The Noco Company v Hong Kong Haowei Technology Co., Ltd

The Noco Company sought to enforce its Australian patents against Hong Kong Haowei Technology Co., Ltd and others for alleged infringement. The dispute was heard in the Federal Court of Australia. The court was required to determine whether the applicants could serve the respondents outside of Australia using the Hague Convention or whether substituted service was appropriate. The applicants claimed that it was not practicable to serve the respondents using the Hague Convention due to the respondents being registered in Hong Kong and China. The court found that the applicants could not serve the respondents using the Hague Convention and that substituted service was appropriate. The court considered the respondents' email addresses to be sufficient contact information to effect service. The court granted the applicants leave to serve the respondents by email as per the specified email addresses. The applicants were required to effect service by 5.00 pm on 31 May 2023. The court also ordered that service would be deemed to have been effected immediately once the steps set out in the order had been undertaken. The respondents were required to file a notice of address for service within 28 days of the service date. The court listed the matter for a case management hearing on 17 July 2023 and reserved costs. The applicants were granted liberty to apply on 24 hours’ notice.