ERA Electronics ( Canada ) Ltd. v. Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway Co.
T-334-95
Reinhardt T.O.
17/1/97
7 pp.
Patent infringement action-Order dismissing action as against Crown with costs payable forthwith by plaintiff after assessment-Item 5: Preparation and filing of two motions for plaintiff's affidavit of documents as fixed by order of Giles A.S.P.-Costs thereof already fixed by orders of A.S.P.-Taxation at hand separate process not to be confused for sake of convenience with adjudication of matters already decided by Court-Dealing with settling of accounts not already assessed-Two orders of Giles A.S.P. must be severed from within adjudicative process-Nor can Giles A.S.P.'s orders be included under Tariff Item 27 referring to "such other services as may be allowed by taxing officer or ordered by the Court"-Although "services" not yet defined in case law, not so broad in scope as to include awards of costs already assessed and ordered by Court-Item 5 thus taxed off in entirety-Item 27: Research and investigations in preparation for trial-Award warranted here as services had impact on how defendant Crown ultimately crafted its case-Number of units reduced as taxing officer's discretion extending only within parameters of range set for each Item and not going beyond that-As for disbursements, claim for photocopies insufficiently substantiated-Actual costs to law firm in making copies must be substantiated-Amount reduced following counsel's presentation of actual cost per photocopy, then multiplied by number of copies made-Claim for "Law Society levy for opening litigation file" new-Law Society Rule requiring firms acting for one or more parties to civil litigation case to pay Lawyers' Professional Indemnity Corporation civil litigation levy surcharge of $25 (now $50)-Charge mandatorily levied on all litigation files when opened and passed on to client of firm as disbursement-Possibly overhead expense not properly recoverable on party and party taxation-However, with some hesitation, item allowed in this case, in absence of adverse argument as, on its face, appears to be proper disbursement-Federal Court Rules, C.R.C., c. 663, Tariff B, Item 27 (as am. by SOR/95-282, s. 5).