The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia has accepted an appeal lodged by distressed plasma business Life Therapeutics [ASX: LFE] in the company's ongoing legal battle with Bell IXL.

The court ordered today that the case be sent back to the courts for a retrial.

The ruling states that the judge erred in reaching his conclusion as he failed to establish or at least spell out a chain of evidence which supported an aspect of the plaintiff's allegations.

Bell IXL has been trying to mount a hostile takeover of Life, and alleged that the decision by Life to sell shares to a third company, Aegis Partners, was an attempt by the current directors to retain control of the company.

But according to Life the decision was merely part of a routine capital raising that had been planned since before Bell IXL mounted its takeover campaign.

The initial Federal Court ruling found for Bell, but it has been overturned.