Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC v Bega Cheese Limited (No 4)

The applicant, Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, sought an order to compel a non-party foreign corporation to provide documents as part of their litigation against the respondent, Bega Cheese Limited. The nature of the dispute involved allegations of infringement of intellectual property rights and passing off. The matter was heard in the Federal Court of Australia. The court was required to determine whether it had the jurisdiction to issue a subpoena against a non-party foreign corporation and if it was appropriate to do so in this case.

The court held that it did not have the jurisdiction to issue a subpoena against a non-party foreign corporation. The court found that the Federal Court Rules 2011 did not provide for the issuance of a subpoena against a non-party foreign corporation, and the court was not empowered to compel a non-party to produce documents. The court also considered the practicalities of compelling a non-party foreign corporation to provide documents and found that it was not appropriate to do so in this case. Instead, the court made a Sabre order, directing Mondelez Australia (Foods) Ltd, a related entity to the applicant, to take all reasonable steps to obtain the documents from the non-party foreign corporation.

The final orders of the court set aside previous orders and directed Mondelez Australia (Foods) Ltd to take all reasonable steps to obtain the documents in question. If the documents were not produced by the specified date, Mondelez Australia (Foods) Ltd was required to file and serve an affidavit as to its efforts made to obtain the documents. The orders also provided for the entry of orders in accordance with Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.