Abbas Kassam

The defendants brought a motion for leave to add a counterclaim seeking a declaration dismissing the plaintiffs' claims in a 2013 intellectual property action.

The defendants argued the counterclaim was necessary to mitigate the costs of preparing for trial on all issues.

The court dismissed the motion, finding the proposed counterclaim was duplicative of the statement of defence, dependent on the main action, and brought with unexplained delay eight years into the litigation.

The respondent, Camtac, moved for costs of an abandoned application brought by the applicant, Fatigue.

Fatigue had sought to enforce letters rogatory for patent litigation in the U.S. Camtac sought $73,119.59 in costs for the abandoned application and $14,000 for the costs motion itself.

Fatigue conceded $7,500 for the abandoned application.

The court, applying Rule 57.01, found Camtac was entitled to costs but deemed the hours spent and rates charged by Camtac's Canadian and U.S. counsel excessive and unreasonable for an application that did not proceed past the notice stage.

The court awarded Camtac $7,500 in costs for the withdrawn application and interim motion, payable by Fatigue.