Nokia Corporation v Yu

Nokia Corporation sought an order in the Federal Court of Australia to restrain the respondent, Yu, from dealing with certain telecommunications equipment that had been seized by the Australian Customs Service. The application was made on an ex parte basis, and the court was asked to dispense with the requirement for personal service on the respondent and to allow service by post. The court was also asked to restrain the Customs from releasing the seized goods to the respondent until the trial of the proceeding. The court heard the application and considered the submissions made by Nokia’s counsel and the affidavits of various witnesses. The court found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the respondent was in possession of the telecommunications equipment that was subject to the seizure and that there was a risk that the respondent would deal with the equipment in a way that would defeat the purpose of the seizure. The court was satisfied that the respondent was not likely to be prejudiced by the order for service by post and that it was in the interests of justice to make the order. The court made the orders as sought by Nokia, including an order that the respondent file and serve any defence by a specified date and an order that the respondent pay Nokia’s costs of and incidental to the application. The matter was listed for directions on a specified date.