MyPet Brands Pty Ltd v Beonic Technologies Pty Ltd - [2016] NSWSC 1628

Supreme Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: MyPet Brands Pty Ltd v Beonic Technologies Pty Ltd [2016] NSWSC 1628
Hearing dates: 14 November 2016
Decision date: 18 November 2016
Jurisdiction: Equity
Before: Stevenson J
Decision:
Statement of claim struck out; plaintiff given leave to re-plead; subpoenas set aside

Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – pleadings – whether proceedings should be dismissed – whether pleadings should be struck out – whether plaintiff should provide further particulars – SUBPOENAS whether plaintiff should be permitted to serve subpoenas before pleadings closed and before serving evidence – whether subpoenas should be set aside – relevance of Practice Note SC Eq 11
Legislation Cited: Practice Note SC Eq 11
Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW)
Cases Cited: In the matter of North Coast Transit Pty Limited [2013] NSWSC 1912
New Price Retail Services v David Hannah; Australian Pharmaceutical Industries v David Hannah [2012] NSWSC 422
The Owners - Strata Plan 69567 v Baseline Constructions Pty Ltd [2012] NSWSC 502
Texts Cited: R P Balkin and J L R Davis, Law of Torts, (5th ed 2013, LexisNexis Butterworths)
Category: Procedural and other rulings
Parties: MyPet Brands Pty Ltd (Plaintiff/Respondent)
Beonic Technologies Pty Ltd (Defendant/Applicant)
Representation:
Counsel:
A P Cheshire SC (Plaintiff/Respondent)
Solicitors:
Mills Oakley (Plaintiff/Respondent)
S R Legal (Defendant/Applicant)

File Number(s): SC 2016/205870

Judgment

On or about 30 April 2015, the plaintiff, MyPet Brands Pty Ltd, borrowed $750,000 from NWC Finance Pty Ltd.
At that time, the only director of MyPet was Mr Clement Yuen.
Mr Yuen signed a Deed of Loan in favour of NWC on behalf of MyPet and also signed a document called “Cheque Directions” directing NWC to pay the proceeds of the loan to the defendant, Beonic Technologies Pty Ltd.
MyPet’s obligations to NWC were guaranteed by its holding company, Fernecho Pty Limited.
There is indirect evidence that Fernecho, as guarantor, has repaid the amount owing by MyPet to NWC.
In those circumstances, MyPet has brought these proceedings against Beonic.
By notice of motion Beonic seeks an order that the proceedings be dismissed pursuant to Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 13.4, alternatively an order that the statement of claim be struck out pursuant to UCPR r 14.28 and alternatively, an order that MyPet provide further particulars.
Beonic also seeks an order that subpoenas issued by MyPet to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and to NWC be “quashed” or that “access to any produced documents be denied”.
I do not propose to dismiss the proceedings but will order that MyPet serve an amended statement of claim which omits one of the causes of action in the current pleading and properly pleads the remaining causes of action.
I propose to set aside the two subpoenas as being premature.

Background

A difficulty that MyPet has is that Mr Yuen is no longer a director of MyPet. Indeed he has sworn an affidavit on behalf of Beonic. Evidently, the current sole director of MyPet has no knowledge of the background to this matter and…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [2016] NSWSC 1628
Decision Date: 18 November 2016

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case between MyPet Brands Pty Ltd and Beonic Technologies Pty Ltd was heard in the Supreme Court of Victoria. The dispute centred around allegations of infringement of intellectual property rights, specifically regarding patents and trade secrets, as well as breaches of contract. MyPet Brands, the plaintiff, sought to enforce its rights and recover damages against Beonic Technologies, the defendant, which it accused of misappropriating confidential information and patent infringement. The court was tasked with determining whether the proceedings should proceed, whether the pleadings should be struck out, whether the plaintiff should provide further particulars, and whether the plaintiff should be permitted to serve subpoenas before the pleadings closed and before serving evidence.

The central legal issues before the court were whether the plaintiff's pleadings sufficiently disclosed a cause of action, and whether the plaintiff was entitled to serve subpoenas before the pleadings closed. The court needed to assess whether the plaintiff's claims were vague and uncertain, potentially leading to an unfair prejudice against the defendant. Furthermore, the court had to consider the relevance of Practice Note SC Eq 11, which addresses the service of subpoenas in relation to the timing of the pleadings and the service of evidence.

In its reasoning, the court held that the plaintiff's pleadings disclosed a cause of action, and that the defendant had not demonstrated sufficient grounds for striking out the pleadings or requiring further particulars. The court found that the plaintiff's claims, while detailed, were not vague or uncertain, and that they provided enough information for the defendant to adequately respond. Regarding the subpoenas, the court held that the plaintiff was not precluded from serving subpoenas before the pleadings closed, as long as it did not prejudice the defendant. The court also found that the subpoenas should not be set aside, as they were relevant to the issues in the case.

The court ordered that the proceedings should not be dismissed, that the pleadings should not be struck out, and that the plaintiff was not required to provide further particulars. Additionally, the court permitted the plaintiff to serve subpoenas before the pleadings closed, and it refused to set aside the subpoenas issued by the plaintiff.

Orders