In a 34 - page defence filed in the Federal Court in Melbourne
on Monday, lawyers for Coles
rejected key claims by the ACCC, which launched legal action in May, alleging that Coles used unfair tactics and misleading
information to force about 200 suppliers to pay
additional and ongoing rebates to participate in the program known as Active Retail Collaboration.
In Eisai, the Court of Appeal found
on the facts that no such confidentiality obligation arose and,
rejecting arguments as to the
additional time and work that would be involved in consultation of the underlying model was disclosed, there was no other good basis
on which to withhold the
information.