Bruce Gray in new legal move against Sirtex

Perth entrepreneur and former University of WA academic Dr Bruce Gray has commenced further legal action against the company he established, Sirtex Medical Ltd, claiming unreasonable restraint of trade.

The proceedings in the Supreme Court relate to employment contracts and a shareholders agreement entered into when Sirtex was founded in 1997 and floated in 2000.

The employment contracts restrain Dr Gray from carrying on or being involved in any business that competes with Sirtex for up to three years after the termination of the contracts.

Dr Gray is a former managing director and chairman of Sirtex, and remains its major shareholder, but left the board last August after an acrimonious falling out with his fellow directors.

The board dispute flowed from legal action take by UWA, which has claimed it is the rightful owner of Sirtex's intellectal property, which allegedly was developed while Dr Gray was employed by the university.

The Federal Court's Justice French has reserved his decision on the UWA legal dispute, following a 50-day trial earlier this year.

Sirtex commenced a cross-claim against Dr Gray, alleging it was misled by Dr Gray when he purported to assign the relevant inventions to the company.

Separate from Sirtex, Dr Gray continues to own Bentley-based Gray Surgical, a successful surgical device manufacturer.