Tramanco Pty Ltd v BPW Transpec Pty Ltd (No 2)

The appeal involved Tramanco Pty Ltd, the appellant and patentee, against BPW Transpec Pty Ltd, the respondent, in a dispute regarding patent infringement and validity. The matter was heard in the Federal Court of Australia. The central issue before the court was the determination of the costs associated with the patent proceedings. Specifically, the court had to decide the costs distribution between the parties after the appellant was found unsuccessful on the infringement claim and the respondent was substantially unsuccessful on the validity claim.

The court examined the nature of the respondent's multiple grounds of invalidity, most of which were rejected. Despite the respondent's substantial success on the validity issue, the court recognised the appellant's partial success on the infringement claim. The court balanced these factors and decided on a proportionate costs allocation. The appellant was ordered to pay 20% of the respondent's costs for the entire proceeding, including the cross-claim, as well as 20% of the respondent's costs of the appeal.

In its decision, the court set aside the previous costs orders made on 6 March 2013 and substituted them with new orders. These new orders required the appellant to pay 20% of the respondent’s costs for the entire proceedings, including the cross-claim, and 20% of the respondent’s costs of the appeal. The court's rationale was based on the respective successes and failures of the parties on the substantive claims, resulting in a fair and balanced costs outcome.

The final orders were that the costs orders from 6 March 2013 were to be set aside and replaced with new orders mandating the appellant to pay 20% of the respondent’s costs for the entire proceeding, including the cross-claim, and 20% of the respondent’s costs of the appeal. These orders were to be entered in accordance with Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.