Microsoft Corporation & Ors v Mayhew (No.2)

Microsoft Corporation and others filed a claim against Mayhew, seeking an order for costs. The nature of the dispute involved software licensing and the recovery of certain costs related to the proceedings. The case was heard by the Federal Court of Australia. The central legal issues that the court needed to address were the appropriateness and extent of the costs that the applicants were seeking to recover from the respondent.

The court considered the principles of costs in litigation, particularly the rule that costs should follow the event. The court found that the applicants had been successful in their claims and that the respondent's conduct had been vexatious. Consequently, the court awarded the applicants their costs on an indemnity basis from a certain date, as well as party-party costs up to that date. The court also ordered the respondent to pay a specified amount of the applicants' disbursements and counsel fees. The court’s decision was based on the applicants' success in the proceedings and the respondent's conduct that was deemed to be unreasonable and wasteful.

The court concluded that the respondent should bear the majority of the costs incurred by the applicants. This was in line with the legal principle that costs should follow the event, and the respondent's actions warranted the imposition of costs. The court ordered the respondent to pay the applicants’ disbursements, counsel fees, party-party costs, and indemnity costs from a specified date. These orders reflect the court's assessment of the respective parties' conduct and the outcome of the litigation.