Merchant Payment Solutions Pty Ltd t/as Zero Payments v David Hedditch (in his own capacity and as trustee for the Curleyhedd Trust)

The Court extended an interim injunction restraining a former sales agent from soliciting the plaintiff's merchants pending final hearing, finding a serious question to be tried as to whether the agent's conduct constituted 'solicitation' within the meaning of the restraint clause, notwithstanding the agent's evidence that customers approached him voluntarily. The Court confirmed that it is not necessary for the restrained party to have made the first approach for conduct to constitute 'solicitation'. On the balance of convenience, the Court held that the difficulty of establishing causation and quantifying loss in restraint of trade cases, the loyalty of the customers to the defendant (suggesting they would return to him if he succeeded at trial), and the plaintiff's superior capacity to meet a damages award all favoured granting the injunction.