The Commerce Commission has successfully appealed against the High Court's decision not to issue an interim injunction against Switzerland-based online ticket reseller Viagogo.
In February the High Court at Auckland dismissed the Commission's application for an interim injunction to stop Viagogo making allegedly false and misleading representations about tickets, including about price and availability, until our substantive case can be heard.
The High Court held that it had no jurisdiction to determine the injunction application because Viagogo had not been formally served with the Court proceedings in Switzerland. The Commission appealed that decision and the matter was heard by the Court of Appeal on 29 August.
In its judgment released today, the Court of Appeal said that the High Court erred in finding it did not have jurisdiction. While the court could only finally determine a case once jurisdiction was found, the jurisdiction to grant interim relief (such as an interim injunction) was not limited in the same way.
It said (at paragraph 7) that the court is "not deprived of the ability to make orders that are required to enable it to do effective justice between the parties in the future, in the event that the substantive claim is heard by a New Zealand court, simply because a defendant is to be served overseas or has objected to the jurisdiction of the New Zealand court."
The decision means the Commission's application for an injunction is able to proceed. As the Court of Appeal notes at paragraph 9, the Commission will need to consider changes made to Viagogo's website before deciding whether to proceed with the application for an injunction
The judgment can be read here.
