The plaintiff, Shaver-Kudell Manufacturing Inc., sought costs on a substantial indemnity basis for an abandoned summary judgment motion and partial indemnity costs for a 13-day trial, following its complete success on liability where it was found that the defendants misappropriated its trade secret and confidential customer information.
The defendants argued for deferral of costs, challenged the scale of costs for the summary judgment motion, and disputed the quantum of costs and disbursements.
The court determined that costs should not be deferred, found the plaintiff's Rule 49 offer to settle the summary judgment motion valid, and awarded partial indemnity costs for the summary motion to the date of the offer and substantial indemnity thereafter.
The court also fixed the trial costs, making adjustments for certain claimed amounts and expert fees, ultimately ordering the defendants to pay specific amounts for both the summary motion and the trial.
