The Court of Appeal held that where a partner in a terminated partnership arguably breached its obligation to deliver plant material for commercialisation, and the contractual ownership provisions in the partnership agreement were predicated on proper compliance with those obligations, there was a serious question to be tried that the defaulting partner held undisclosed plant material on constructive trust for the partnership. The Court further held that the primary judge erred in refusing to consider a more limited form of injunctive relief — namely, a restraint on dealing with disputed material until sampling and DNA testing could determine its genetic provenance — and that the balance of convenience favoured granting such time-limited relief to preserve evidence critical to the appellants' proprietary claim.
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