Anisah S. Hassan

The plaintiff, Husky, brought an action against its founder, Robert Schad, his new company Athena, and others, alleging misuse of confidential information relating to injection molding machines.

Husky claimed that Athena accessed confidential information from Husky machines placed at a third-party facility (Niigon) and used it to develop competing machines.

The defendants argued the claims were statute-barred, that most issues were settled during prior negotiations, and that no confidential information was misused.

The court dismissed Husky's claims, finding they were statute-barred as Husky knew of the material facts more than two years before commencing the action.

The court also found that the commercially available machines were not confidential, and that Athena did not make material use of any confidential information from the prototype machines.

Athena's counterclaim for abuse of process and injurious falsehood was also dismissed for lack of evidence.

Following dismissal of a civil action against a casino operator arising from a fraudster gambling stolen funds, the defendant sought partial indemnity costs of the action.

The plaintiffs argued the case raised a novel legal issue and that awarding costs would unfairly compound the losses already suffered through the fraud.

The court considered the access to justice principles discussed in Boucher v. Public Accountants.

In the circumstances, the court exercised its discretion to decline awarding costs.

No costs were ordered despite the defendant’s success in the underlying action.