Patrick John Walker as Commissioner for Fair Trading v Rugs a Million Pty Ltd

In this case, the plaintiff, the Commissioner for Fair Trading of Western Australia, brought an application for an interim injunction against the defendants, companies involved in the retail business "Rugs-A-Million". The plaintiff claimed that the defendants had engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct, including dual price ticketing, bait advertising, and false representations about the composition of their rugs. The defendants argued that the evidence obtained by the plaintiff's officers entering the retail premises without statutory authority should be excluded. The court found that the officers were not trespassers, as they were acting in good faith and not causing any disruption. The court also found that there was a serious question to be tried on each of the alleged forms of conduct, except for bait advertising. The court considered the balance of convenience and found that the defendants' undertakings, while not perfect, went some distance to addressing the plaintiff's concerns. The court concluded that if suitable undertakings were given by all three defendants, interim injunctive orders would not be appropriate. However, if the first and second defendants did not provide identical undertakings, the remaining proposed orders should be made. The court reserved the costs of the application to the judge hearing the application for final relief.