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The City of Sydney v Streetscape Projects (Australia) Pty Limited & Anor [2012] NSWSC 10 (1 February 2012)
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The City of Sydney v Streetscape Projects (Australia) Pty Limited & Anor [2012] NSWSC 10 (1 February 2012)
Last Updated: 2 February 2012
Case Title:
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The City of Sydney v Streetscape Projects
(Australia) Pty Limited & Anor
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Medium Neutral Citation:
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Hearing Date(s):
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Decision Date:
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Jurisdiction:
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Equity Division - Commercial List
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Before:
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Decision:
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Catchwords:
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ORDERS - Final orders reflecting reasons for
judgment in The City of Sydney v Streetscape Projects (Australia) Pty
Ltd EVIDENCE - decision on admissibility of proposed tender by
defendants.
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Legislation Cited:
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Cases Cited:
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Texts Cited:
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Parties:
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The City of Sydney (Plaintiff) Streetscape
Projects (Australia) Pty Limited (First Defendant) Moses Edward Obeid (Second
Defendant)
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Representation
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Counsel: Mr T Jucovic QC, Mr S Climpson, Mr C
Bova (Plaintiff) Mr S Couper QC, Mr J Gooley, Mr R Higgins (Defendants)
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- Solicitors:
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Solicitors: Holding Redlich
(Plaintiff) Colin Biggers & Paisley (Defendants)
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File number(s):
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2009/00298673 & 2010/0085353
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Publication Restriction:
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Judgment
- This
judgment deals with final orders in the matter of The City of Sydney v
Streetscape Projects (Australia) Pty Limited & Anor [2011] NSWSC 1214
("the Main Proceedings").
- Pursuant
to directions made by the Court on 13 October 2011, the parties have exchanged
draft Short Minutes of Order. There is substantial
agreement as to the
appropriate form of orders. Where there is disagreement, the parties have
provided written submissions.
The areas of disagreement
Order 1
- The
purpose of Order 1 is to generally restrain the first defendant from making use
of the City's intellectual property. The order
contains a carve out provision to
recognise Streetscape's right to ownership of certain improvements pursuant to
clause 5(c) of the
Second Deed of Variation.
- The
Order is agreed between the parties except for the following words at the end of
Order 1(a), which the defendants seek to delete:
"provided that that part which is used to attach such item to a pole shall
not be included in the above exception".
- The
plaintiff seeks to include these words to ensure that the rights to street
furniture bestowed on Streetscape by virtue of clause
5(c) does not extend to
include the attachments to these improvements.
- In
the Main Proceedings at [257]-[262] the Court held that the purpose of clause
5(c) was to remove the City's discretion under clause
7.11 of the Licence
Agreement in relation to ownership of:
[259] ...improvements attached to the Smartpole. The purpose of clause 5(c)
is to remove this discretion to ensure the company owns
any street furniture or
accessories designed by Streetscape.
- Clause
5 (c) did not extend further than addressing the improvement itself. In this
sense clause 5 (c) altered clause 7.11 (b) and
(c) of the Licence Agreement, it
did not override and is not inconsistent with clause 7.11 (d). Therefore,
despite ownership of the
improvement, clause 7.11(d) of the Licence Agreement is
clear that:
"Notwithstanding clause 7.11(c), the Licensor shall at all times own the
Intellectual Property in that part of the Improvement which
is used to attach
the Improvement to the Smartpole pole."
- In
other words, irrespective of Streetscape's automatic ownership of the
improvement, the City retains ownership of that part of the
improvement used to
attatch it. This position is unchanged whether the City has discretion to
determine ownership or not. Therefore
the plaintiff's proposed Order 1(a)
accurately reflects the reasons for judgment and accordingly I make that order.
Order 3
- Order
3 restraints the first defendant from disclosing to others details of the City's
intellectual property. The defendants object
to subparagraphs 3(c) and (e) - (h)
of the plaintiff's Short Minutes of Order.
- The
first defendant contends that there is no basis for the Court to make an order
restraining disclosure on the basis of copyright
ownership. The defendant
contends that this is not a right provided to a copyright owner under the
Copyright Act . The first defendant's position is that, paragraph 99 of
the Commercial List Statement sets out the documents which the plaintiff
identified as forming its confidential information. Accordingly, any document
which is not referred to in paragraph 99 of the Commercial
List Statement does
not contain confidential information.
- The
effect of the defendants' submissions concerning the deletion of Order 3(c) is
that there would be no restraint in relation to
the use or disclosure of
post-Licence Agreement improvements to the Smartpole. This would be contrary to
the Court's finding that
under the licence agreement ownership of improvements
and modifications to the Smartpole drawings are the property of the City. The
Orders must reflect this finding.
- Accordingly,
Order 3(c) appropriately extends the restraint on the defendants beyond the
documented poles to "improvements" to the
pole types and accessories. Order 3(c)
is supported by the Court's finding at [256] that Streetscape Projects has no
right to any
Improvements to "Smartpole" poles post licence agreement. Order
3(c) is also supported by the Court's finding at [268] that the material
to be
kept confidential by Streetscape Projects is defined in the contract and that
Streetscape Projects has a contractual obligation
to keep that material
confidential whether or not all of it had the necessary degree of confidence at
the time of the contract or
any time subsequent. It also follows the finding at
[224] that such provisions were consistent with the City's intent that the
"Smartpole"
system would be constantly evolving and that it was important that
the City protect its rights as the system developed.
- Orders
3(e) - (g) (relating to drawings of the S1, S2 and S3 extrusions) are also
appropriate in the light of the findings that the
intellectual property in those
extrusions is the property of the City. Order 3(h) (relating to drawings of the
poles and accessories
referred to in Order 1) is also appropriate. The
defendants accept that there should be an order restraining the manufacture and
sale of the poles and accessories referred to in Order 1. Consistent with that
order, there should also be a restraint on the use
of information in the
drawings relating to those poles and accessories (in the terms of Order 3(h)).
Such an order is also consistent
with an order for delivery up of the drawings
of those poles.
- I
make the plaintiff's proposed Order 3 in its entirety.
Order 5
- The
defendants do not object to Order 5(b) which restrains the first defendant from
using moulds based on or derived from any of the
information or drawings
referred to in Order 3. However, the defendants object to Order 5(a) which
restrains the use of the moulds
used in the manufacture of S1, S2 or S3
extrusions and the use of moulds used in the manufacture of the poles and
accessories referred
to in Order 1. The basis for the objection is that the
restraint in Order 1 is sufficient.
- Order
1 does not refer to the use of the moulds, but only pole types and accessories.
It is therefore appropriate that this further
restraint is ordered. Further, it
is not absolutely necessary to list the S1, S2 and S3 extrusions separately
because they are covered
in 5(b) by virtue of Order 3(d) - (g). However, for the
sake of clarity it is appropriate that the extrusions are listed.
- I
make the plaintiff's proposed Order 5 in its entirety.
Restraints on the second defendant - Orders 2, 4, 6 and 8
- Orders
2, 4, 6 and 8 seek the same orders against Mr Obeid as against the first
defendant.
- The
defendants object to these orders because they contend there is no basis for
such relief in the judgment. I do not accept this
submission.
- The
injunctions against the second defendant propounded in Orders 2, 4, 6 and 8 of
the plaintiff's Short Minutes of Order fall into
in two categories:
(a) Orders restraining the second defendant from causing or permitting
Streetscape Projects to manufacture the poles referred to
in Order 1, disclose
or use the information in Order 3, use the moulds referred to in Order 5, or use
the Registered Design referred
to in Order 7; and
(b) Orders restraining the Second Defendant from disclosing or using the
information referred to in Order 3 and using the Registered
Design referred to
in Order 7.
- Both
categories of orders were sought by the plaintiff in paragraphs 6 and 7 of the
Seventh Further Amended Summons. Further, the
orders are supported by findings
in the Main Proceedings. Relevantly these findings were:
(1) Moses Obeid was knowingly involved in Streetscape Projects' breach of
fiduciary duty in relation to the manufacture and sale
of "Smartpole" poles in
the UAE (see [450] of the reasons for judgment) and involved deliberate conduct
on the part of Moses Obeid
carried out for his own purposes and inconsistently
with the rights which accrued to the City and hence were dishonest and
fraudulent
(see [450] (12) of the reasons for judgment);
(2) Moses Obeid was actively involved in Streetscape Project's vesting of its
knowledge, skills and intellectual property relating
to the "Smartpole" and
Streetscape International and Streetscape International's use of that knowledge,
skill and intellectual property
to manufacture and sell "Smartpole" poles in the
UAE (see [478] and [479] of the reasons for judgment);
(3) Moses Obeid was also knowingly involved in Streetscape Projects' breach of
duty of confidence to the City (see [482] of the reasons
for judgment);
(4) Moses Obeid understood the commercially valuable nature of the information
provided to Streetscape Projects by the City and that
the information had been
provided on a confidential basis (see [470], [471] and [474] of the reasons for
judgment) and had an equitable
duty of confidence to the City. Notwithstanding
that duty, he engaged in the conduct described above in relation to the UAE (see
[478] - [480] of the reasons for judgment); and
(5) Moses Obeid, notwithstanding his equitable duty of confidence to the City,
continued to breach that duty after the expiry of
the Licence Agreement in
September 2009.
- The
first category of injunctions is appropriate for the additional reason that it
is necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the
orders against the first
defendant in Orders 1, 3, 5 and 7. The Court has found that there should be
injunctions against the first
defendant on the basis of breach of fiduciary duty
and breach of duty of confidence. The Court found that the second defendant
participated
in each of these breaches. In the light of these findings, it is
appropriate to make orders against the second defendant restraining
him from
causing or permitting the first defendant from breaching its obligations.
- I
make Orders 2, 4, 6 and 8.
Order 9
- Order
9 makes provisions for the Court's finding at [309] - [316] that the effect of
clause 5(a) of the Second Deed of Variation was
to vest the intellectual
property in the "Adepole (catalogue item 41100)" to Streetscape. For this
reason, any relief appropriate
in relation to Smartpoles generally is not
appropriate as against the Adepole.
- The
defendants raise two objections to this carve out provision which both seek to
extend their rights in relation to the Adepole.
Dealing first with the
defendants' prayer to delete the wording "within the boundaries of the Adelaide
City Council". This prayer
has no substance. Certain paragraphs of the judgment
leave open the question of whether sales of the Adepole are limited to use
within
"the boundaries of the Adelaide City Council", however it is clear from
paragraph [506] that this limitation was intended. This accords
with the Court's
evidentiary findings that Mr Obeid represented to the City that the Adepole
would only be sold with the boundaries
of the Adelaide City Council.
Accordingly, those words should not be deleted and Order 9 should be made in
full.
- The
second objection concerns two aspects of the definition of "Adepole (catalogue
item 41100)" in the plaintiff's Short Minutes of
Order.
- First,
the defendants seek to extend the definition of Adepole to include
"modifications or improvements made to that pole subsequent
to the Second Deed
of Variation". Initially the plaintiff opposed this but later indicated it
consented. Such a concession is appropriate
and accurately reflects the reasons
for judgment.
- Second
, the defendants object to the definition of "Adepole (catalogue item 41100)"
including the words " being an extrusion and cladding but excluding
accessories ".
- This
restriction is necessary to properly identify what the parties intended by the
expression "Adepole (catalogue item 41100)" in
clause 5(a). In particular, it
was a reference to a pole and not accessories. In that regard, "Adepole
(catalogue item 41100)" refers
to the item which appears in the schedule to the
First Deed of Variation. That item appears under the heading "Smartpoles" and
separate
from the headings concerning accessories (Smart Lighting, Smart
Traffic, Smart Signage and other such items). To permit the definition
of
"Adepole (catalogue item 41100)" to include accessories would go beyond what was
fairly contemplated by the parties.
Order 19
- Order
19 is related to Order 9 and therefore it is appropriate to deal with it out of
numerical order. Order 19 varies clause 5(a)
of the Second Deed of Variation in
accordance with paragraph [352] of the judgment in the Main Proceedings. The
purpose of this Order
is to limit the vesting of intellectual property in the
Adepole to reflect the misleading representations made by the defendants
to the
City.
- The
inclusion of the word "only" is appropriate as it properly reflects the reasons
for judgment (paragraphs [352] and [506]). However,
some of the remainder of the
plaintiff's proposed order seeks to go beyond the Court's findings. Taking into
account the party's
submissions, the most appropriate form of Order 19 is:
Order pursuant to s.87(2)(b) of the Trade Practices Act varying clause
5(a) of the Second Deed of Variation such that it has the effect from the date
of entering in the Deed that the City
vested intellectual property in the
Adepole (catalogue item 41100) only to the extent that that pole is designed for
the Adelaide
City Council and is sold only to that Council by the addition of
the following words in that clause after the words "vests in the
Licensee":
"only to the extent necessary to enable the Licensee to manufacture and
supply the Adepole (catalogue item 41100) to the Adelaide
City Council for use
by the Adelaide City Council within its boundaries."
Order 13
- Order
13 deals with the delivery up of documents and drawings containing the City's
intellectual property. The defendants object to
Order 13, contending for the
deletion of subparagraphs (a) - (b) and (e).
- The
plaintiff appropriately conceded that there is an overlap between Order 13(b)
and 13(d) and that provided that Order 3(c) is not
deleted, Order 13(b) is not
necessary. This is because the drawings referred to in Order 3(c) include
drawings of the pole types
and accessories in the Product Manual and
Specifications including drawings containing improvements and enhancements. The
plaintiff
therefore does not press Order 13(b) and it should be deleted.
- In
relation to subparagraph (a), the defendants says that this paragraph is
redundant because the Product Manual and Specifications
are already captured by
subparagraphs (c) and (d). Subparagraph (a) is not redundant. Subparagraphs (c)
and (d) are limited to drawings
and the Product Manual and Specifications
referred to in subparagraph (a) are broader. Order 13 (a) should be made.
- The
defendants also object to Order 13(e) on the basis that the delivery up of
drawings held by suppliers to subcontractors of the
first defendant does not
reflect the judgment. This is not correct. At [528] I found:
"Streetscape has also failed to deliver up drawings held by over 35
specialised sub-contractors of Streetscape who assisted in the
manufacturing of
components of the Smartpoles."
- At
[530(6)] I also said:
"... Hayman Industries Pty Ltd, a contractor of Streetscape Projects, has
possession of numerous drawings of the "Smartpole" poles
containing the City's
intellectual property, including an updated version of the 6400 Issue C
Drawings, which it produced under subpoena."
- Accordingly,
Order 13(e) should be made.
- The
defendants also seek to limit delivery up to documents to those in their
"possession, power, custody or control". There is no
justification for this
restriction. It is not justified by the terms of the Licence Agreement, clause
15.4 requiring Streetscape
Projects to:
"Deliver to the Licensor all documents containing Intellectual Property,
Product Manuals and the Specification whether or not provided
by the Licensor
together with all documents containing any Confidential Information."
- Further,
it is not justified on the findings. The Court at [527] - [530] made various
findings in relation to Streetscape Projects'
non compliance with its
obligations under clause 15.4 and found that the plaintiff had made good its
claims to delivery up of documents
and that Streetscape Projects is obliged to
deliver up under the provisions of clause 15.4 and the Second Deed of Variation.
There
should be no limitation on the orders reflecting those findings concerning
documents not within the defendants' "possession, power,
custody or control".
- Further,
the limitation is not justified on the pleadings. No limitation by reference to
"possession, power, custody or control" was
raised on the pleading. No evidence
was led by the defendants relating to any issue of impossibility concerning
delivery up of documents.
There is no evidence to support the defendant's
contention in the Short Minutes of Order Bundle that, if they fail to comply
with
this order, they will be in contempt. In the absence of any evidence
demonstrating impossibility, the plaintiff is entitled to the
relief sought.
- Finally,
the defendants raised two objections to the form of the carve out provision in
relation to the Adepole . The first was that the carve out should not be
limited to drawings brought into existence before the Second Deed of Variation
(19
October 2007). The plaintiff indicated that it does not press this wording
and in absence of argument, I accept the wording "prior
to 19 October 2007"
should be deleted.
- The
second objection was to the inclusion of the words "and which on their face are
marked with the name Adepole." The plaintiff submitted
that this wording
reflects the intention of the judgment. This is incorrect. Adepole is properly
and adequately defined in the Orders
in a manner which reflects the wording of
the judgment. There is no reason to import any further characteristics into the
definition,
particularly where there was no evidence that the City only intended
to convey Adepoles which were marked Adepoles on their face.
The words "and
which on their face are marked with the name Adepole" should be deleted to
accurately reflect the findings in the
Main Proceedings.
- The
plaintiff's proposed Order 13 should be made but the words "prior to 19 October
2007" and "and which on their face are marked
with the name Adepole" should be
deleted.
Incidental orders - Orders 12 and 14 - 16
- The
defendants also object to the whole of Orders 12, 14 - 16. They do this on the
basis that those orders are not pleaded, are inappropriate
and excessive. I
accept the plaintiff's submissions that the incidental orders are necessary to
ensure the enforcement of the primary
orders for delivery up.
- The
incidental orders are not required to be claimed in the summons itself. They are
incidental orders and a wide discretion in this
respect is bestowed on the Court
by s 90 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW). In any event, they are
contemplated by paragraph 26 of the summons which seeks "such further or
other order as the Court considers fit ".
- Order
12 requires that, before delivery up, the defendants identify by affidavit the
computer systems which contain and the third
parties which possess the drawings
which are the subject of the order for delivery up in Order 13. Such an order is
reasonable and
appropriate to ensure the proper identification of documents held
in computer systems and to enable the plaintiff to know the whereabouts
of
documents.
- Order
14 is an order that that the defendants confirm, by affidavit, the delivery up
of relevant drawings, including the deletion
of computer records of those
drawings, as well as identification of the drawings that have been retained in
relation to the Adepole
(catalogue number 41100) exemption. Such an order is
reasonable and appropriate to ensure proper delivery up and removal of relevant
computer records. It also brings some accountability in relation to that
process. It is also reasonable and appropriate for the plaintiff
to be aware of
the drawings relating to the Adepole which are retained by the plaintiff
pursuant to the exemption.
- Orders
15 and 16 provide a mechanism whereby the inspection of the defendants computer
systems can occur to ensure compliance and
further deletion of drawings should
that be necessary.
- The
incidental orders should be made to ensure the defendants' compliance with
obligations under the Licence Agreement. In this respect
Streetscape Projects
claimed that they had complied with their obligations under the Licence
Agreement. The Court has found that
Streetscape Projects did not comply with
those obligations and the incidental orders are necessary and appropriate to
ensure that
compliance.
- It
is appropriate to make Orders 12, 14, 15 and 16.
Orders 17 and 18
- Order
18 is the primary order for the delivery up of the moulds. Order 17 is an
incidental order to ensure compliance.
- The
Court does not accept the defendants' objections to these orders. There is no
imprecision or ambiguity in ordering the delivery
up of moulds "based on or
derived from" drawings.
- The
defendants also seek to add the words "in its possession, power, custody or
control" to Order 18 as to limit their delivery up
obligations. In support of
this application, the defendants rely on the affidavit of John McLeod sworn 11
December 2009. This affidavit
was not tendered in evidence by the defendants.
Only part of that affidavit was tendered by the plaintiff in Exhibit # P55. That
evidence does not contain any reference to delivery up of the moulds.
- At
paragraphs [540]-[541] of the reasons for judgment, the Court made findings
concerning the non-delivery up of the moulds and, based
on those facts and a
proper construction of the Licence Agreement, found that the City was entitled
to delivery up of the moulds.
If the defendants proposed to raise a particular
reason why delivery up should not be ordered because of impossibility, it was
incumbent
on it to introduce evidence to demonstrate the ground for its
inability. In the absence of any evidence demonstrating any lack of
ability to
deliver up, the plaintiff is entitled to the relief sought without restriction.
Monetary Relief
- The
plaintiff indicated in oral submissions that it will not elect for an account of
profits and instead seeks equitable damages.
There remains a dispute between
parties as to the appropriate quantum of these damages.
- The
defendants appear to proceed on the basis that because the reasons for judgment
only contain findings that in total refer to $559,908.24,
an Order should be for
that amount. This approach ignores the fact that the Court purposely gave
reasons for judgment on the issues
in dispute and directed that the parties
propose what they contend to be appropriate orders consequential on these
findings. The
defendants' submission that the Court is being asked to "re-write"
parts of its judgment is incorrect.
- The
plaintiff's calculation of the judgment amount is set out in the letter from
Holding Redlich to Colin Biggers & Paisley of
7 November 2011. It is
summarised in the table below:
(a) UAE royalties
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As per paragraphs 47 to 52 of Tab 17 of MFI P Closing and paragraphs 1-11
of the Addendum thereto, calculated on method 2 (being the
lower average price
per pole x 10,000 x 10%)
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$8,479,250.00
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(b) UAE licence fees
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As per paragraph 53 of the addendum to Tab 17 of MFI P Closing and
paragraphs 12-13 of the Addendum thereto (being distributions over
5 years x
$50,000)
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$250,000
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(c) Singapore royalties
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As per findings at [428] - [429] of the Judgment and multiplying that sum
by the 10% royalty in clause 15.5
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$210,354.30
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(d) Singapore licence fees
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As per [429] of the Judgment and paragraph 17 of the Addendum to Tab 17 of
MFI P Closing (being distributions over 2 years x $50,000)
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$100,000.00
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(e) Post Expiry Sales
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As per [509] of the Judgment
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$336,439.34
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Total
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$9,376,043.64
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- The
substance of the defendants' objection is that the judgment in the Main
Proceedings does not make explicit findings as to quantity
of poles or amount of
damages payable. The judgment made no such findings because the plaintiff's
proposed figures were not placed
into issue. The defendants' case in relation to
damages is summarised at paragraphs 10 to 16 of MFI # D Closing. Their primary
position
was that clause 15.5 of the Licence Agreement was not valid because
there was no loss suffered by the City and therefore the clause
was penal. The
Court rejected every submission on damages put forward by the defendants. The
inevitable result of this is that the
plaintiff's evidence as to damages is
accepted. Following this it was incumbent on the parties to calculate the amount
payable according
to the formula under the Licence Agreement and the quantity of
poles which were unchallenged.
UAE
- The
Court made the following findings in relation to the contractual liability of
Streetscape Projects in relation to sales in the
UAE:
(1) There were over 10,000 poles sold in the UAE during the Licence Agreement
term ([371] of the reasons for judgment);
(2) The Memorandum of Information prepared for Macquarie Bank contained a list
of the projects in the Middle East and the Expression
of Interest to PWD
identified projects involving the installation of "Smartpole" poles in the UAE
and listed several installations
of "Smartpole" poles as Streetscape Projects
installations ([364] and [366] of the reasons for judgment).
(3) The Defendants' contention that the poles sold in the UAE were not
"Smartpole" poles was rejected ([369] of the reasons for judgment).
(4) The parties contractually agreed that the price of infringement of the
City's intellectual property was to be calculated by reference
to clause 15.5 of
the Licence Agreement ([382] of the reasons for judgment). Clause 15.5 provided
that the royalty rate applicable
in relation to distributions in unauthorised
territories was 10% and the annual licence fees for such distributions was
$50,000 per
annum.
- In
relation to equitable compensation , the Court made the following findings at
[507] of the reasons for judgment:
(5) The equitable duties owed by Streetscape Projects and Moses Obeid to the
City require that they obtain the authority of the City
before using the
property of the City to manufacture and sell Smartpole poles in the UAE or
Singapore. The consent of the City would
not have been forthcoming without an
undertaking to pay royalties and licence fees. The Licence Agreement
contemplates the measure
of those royalties and fees in clause 15.5 which
evidences the amounts which would be payable as the price for that consent.
(6) This is in conformity of the particulars of the City's claim. 42A of the
Commercial List Statement particularises the loss for
breach of equitable duty
(pleaded in paragraph 40 as "loss of opportunity to obtain royalties and other
fees from Streetscape International in respect of the use of the Intellectual
Property and the Confidential Information " (emphasis added). Paragraph 39
of the Commercial List Statement pleads that the business of Streetscape
International was derived
from Streetscape Projects and was carried on for and
on behalf of Streetscape Projects. Accordingly, the loss is the loss of
royalties
and licence fees from Streetscape Projects itself.)
- In
light of the above findings, the quantum of equitable compensation will be the
same as the common law claim.
- The
quantification of the royalty and annual licence fees under clause 15.5 was the
subject of the plaintiff's closing submissions.
The defendants did not challenge
the plaintiff's quantification of the amount payable under clause 15.5, limiting
their argument
to a submission that the figures referred to in the
quantification were not relevant to a loss of opportunity claim. That submission
was rejected by the Court. The significance of the absence of any submissions
challenging the plaintiff's quantification is highlighted
by the defendants'
submission that damages should be determined on the evidence before the Court
and without any further hearing.
- In
light of the Court's findings referred to above and in light of the defendant's
failure to challenge the plaintiff's quantification,
it is inherent in the
reasons for judgment that, in order to quantify the royalties payable pursuant
to clause 15.5, an average price
per pole on the lower average of the two
methods proposed must be adopted then multiplied by the number of poles sold
(10,000) and
a 10% royalty then applied. A calculation on this approach results
in the figure identified, namely $8,479,250.
- In
relation to licence fees, it is inherent in the reasons that, in order to
quantify the licence fees payable, the number of years
that the City's
intellectual property was used in the UAE should be multiplied by the annual
licence fee provided by clause 15.5
(ie $50,000). The Memorandum of Information
and the Expression of Interest indicate sales of "Smartpole" poles in the UAE
between
2003 and 2007 (a total of 5 years). Those sales and when those sales
occurred are referred to in the Distribution Schedule (at MFI
P Closing tab 15).
Five years at an annual licence fee of $50,000 results in total licence fees of
$250,000.
Singapore
- In
relation to Singapore, the Court has made the following findings in relation to
the contractual liability of Streetscape Projects:
(1) that the amount received by Streetscape Projects in relation to the sale of
"Smartpole" poles in Singapore was $1,734,689 and
from the sale of "Smartpole"
accessories in Singapore was $368,854 (see [428] of the reasons for judgment);
and
(2) is liable for payment of the royalties and licence fees at the rate
specified in clause 15.5 (see [429] of the reasons for judgment).
- Applying
the 10% royalty specified by clause 15.5 for poles sold in Singapore in
accordance with the findings referred to above, a
total royalty calculation of
$210,354.30 is appropriate.
- In
relation to annual licence fees the invoices date over 2 calendar years (2008
and 2009), representing licence fees of $100,000
pursuant to clause 15.5.
Post Expiry Sales
- Based
on the letter of 9 December 2011 from Colin Biggers & Paisley, there appears
to be no issue in relation to the quantum for
post expiry sales of $336,439.34.
Interest
- The
plaintiff provided a detailed schedule (MFI # 1) indicating the appropriate
amount of interest in circumstances where judgment
for the full was entered in
their favour. The defendant indicated that if the plaintiff was wholly
successful on quantum that was
the appropriate amount. The plaintiff has been
wholly successful on quantum and therefore the defendants are to pay the
plaintiff
interest in accordance with that schedule.
Miscellaneous matters in the first proceedings
- The
plaintiff no longer opposes the defendants' amendments to the definitions of
"Product Manual" and "Specifications" and therefore
the defendants' definitions
should be adopted.
- The
parties agree on Schedule A, except as to the notes column. The plaintiff has
submitted that determining which pole is an Adepole
is a question of fact. I
agree with this proposition, however the notes column provides greater clarity
to the orders and removes
the possibility of further confusion. For this reason,
the notes column proposed by the defendants should be included to clearly
delineate which poles listed in the schedule are exempt from the restraints.
- Schedule
B is largely in agreement. The parties are only in disagreement regarding
paragraph 8. The defendants submit that paragraph
8 in the table should not be
included because Streetscape is not restrained from utilising these poles.
However, the effect of this
deletion would be that Streetscape Projects would be
free to use those drawings without any restriction. This would be contrary to
the s 87 order which the Court found should be made. Accordingly, those drawings
should not be deleted from the Schedule and the scope of
any exception to the
orders should be expressed as a "carve out" order. This ensures the poles in
paragraph 8 are used within the
bounds of the Court's decision.
The second proceedings
- The
parties agree on Orders 1-6 of the Short Minutes for the second proceeding.
Those orders were agreed between the parties on 19
October 2011. Pursuant to
those orders, the three defendants are permanently restrained from using the
Plaintiff's trade marks (SMARTPOLE)
(Order 1); using the word SmartMFP in the
course of its business (or applying for its registration as a trade mark)
(Orders 2 and
3); representing or passing themselves off as a manufacturer or
seller of the "Smartpole" pole (Order 4) or having a present connection
or
affiliation with the City (order 5). The parties also agree that there should be
an order dismissing the cross claim (Order 7).
However, there is no agreement on
costs.
- In
oral argument, the parties indicated that all matters as to costs should be
heard after the Court's decision on orders. Accordingly
the Court reserves its
decision on costs for both proceedings.
The defendants' proposed 16 September tender
- On
16 September 2011 the defendants proposed to read and tender two documents:
(1) The affidavit of Jeffrey Collins affirmed 24 August 2011 (' Collins
Affidavit' ); and
(2) The judgment of Gyles J in Council of the City of Sydney v Goldspar Pty
Ltd [2004] FCA 568 (' Gyles J Judgment' ).
- The
plaintiff opposed these tenders.
- In
the principal judgment I left this application open and indicated that a ruling
would be given at a later date. I now proceed to
do so.
The Collins Affidavit
- Senior
Counsel for the defendants stated that the Collins Affidavit was being read to
deal with allegations of inadequacy of discovery
by the plaintiff. However, on
the face of the Collins affidavit it is clear that the affidavit does not deal
with the discovery issue
raised by Ms Fernandez. Ms Fernandez's affidavits of 12
and 26 August (tendered as part of Exhibit P #16) were the affidavits relied
upon by the plaintiff in support of its inadequacy of discovery allegations. The
Collins affidavit does not address this material.
- Instead,
the Collins Affidavit responds to an affidavit of Sylvia Fernandez sworn 3
August 2011. This affidavit was sworn in opposition
to the defendants'
application to amend its commercial list response, the subject of the Court's
judgment on 4 August 2011, see:
The City of Sydney v Streetscape Projects
(Australia) Pty Ltd and Anor [ 2011] NSWSC 831. This affidavit was not
relied on in the main proceedings.
- I
accept the plaintiff's submission that the Collins Affidavit is an attempt to
tender into evidence material which has already been
ruled irrelevant to the
defendants' pleaded case. This is because the exhibit to the Collins Affidavit
consists of copies of the
5470 Drawings.
- In
relation to the 5470 Drawings, the defendants sought to amend their commercial
list response on around 3 August 2011 to include
the following:
(a) Particular (2A) and (2B) to paragraph 4(a) of their commercial list
response:
"(2A) In or about June 1998 Streetscape Projects engaged KWA to produce
drawings numbered by KWA 5470 (wrongly identified on occasion
as 5740 &
5730).
Particulars
Affidavit of Moses Obeid dated 27 July 2011 paragraphs 39-42, affidavit of
John Angus McLeod dated 27 July 2011 paragraphs 3-7.
(2B) Pursuant to the engagement KWA produced drawings including the drawings
identified at attachment MEO-C to the affidavit of Moses
Obeid and tab 3 to the
affidavit of Mr McLeod, and assigned the copyright in those drawings to
Streetscape Projects" (emphasis added);
and
(b) Paragraph 17(e)(xi) of their commercial list response:
"The drawings and specifications in relation to "Smartpoles" were not
confidential as they had been disclosed by the City to at least
the RTA, Energy
Australia, mobile cellular communications network providers and subcontractors
of each of them and by reason of the
matters pleaded in paragraph 4(a)(2A) and
(2B) herein and because the information contained in the drawings and
specifications was
in all material respects the same information available to
Goldspar in respect of drawings and specifications owned by it which it
could do
with as it saw fit at all material times.
Particulars
The information was contained in the Goldspar non-conforming tender drawings
Issue A and in a drawing described as 215.0 Street pole
extrusion dated 16
September 1997 and a drawing described as 4930/01 Issue A dated 22 September
1997."
- The
defendants were refused leave to make these amendments on 4 August 2011. The
relevant reasons are found under the headings "The
1998 copyright pleading"
(paragraphs [30]-[36]) and "The loss of confidentiality and no confidentiality
issue" (paragraphs [48]-[55]).
- The
defendants also sought to read the following affidavits which are referred to in
the proposed amended commercial list response:
(1) Moses Obeid sworn 27 July 2011 at [39]-[42] and MEO-C; and
(2) John McLeod sworn 27 July 2011 at [3]-[7] and Tab 3.
- The
Court also rejected this material.
- The
same documents as appear in MEO-C to Mr Obeid's affidavit sworn 27 July 2011 and
Tab 3 to Mr McLeod sworn 27 July 2011 appear
in the Collins Affidavit (JC-4).
- In
the principal judgment, under the heading " A mainstay of the defendants'
contentions " ([189]-[194]) I dealt with the reasons
why the Court will not
permit the defendants to rely on these drawings in circumstances where their
relevance was not pleaded early
in the proceedings. For the same reasons the
Collins Affidavit is inadmissible.
'The Gyles J Judgment'
- The
defendants also sought to tender the judgment of Gyles J in Council of the
City of Sydney v Goldspar Pty Ltd [2004] FCA 568. Mr Couper submitted that
the plaintiff has already tendered Gyles J's other judgments in that proceeding
and that this judgment is
necessary to complete the picture.
- The
plaintiff opposed the tender arguing:
(1) It appears that the defendants wish to utilise the Gyles J Judgment in these
proceedings to advance the proposition that Goldspar
are the owners of the
copyright which subsists in the 4930 Issue A Drawings. At [136] of the Gyles J
Judgment, his Honour said:
"Goldspar has the copyright in the Issue A drawings and council has the
copyright in Issue C drawings."
(2) The defendants' attempt to rely on the 4930 Issue A drawings which I have
earlier rejected in The City of Sydney v Streetscape Projects (Australia) Pty
Ltd and Anor [ 2011] NSWSC 831 (4 August 2011) under the headings "The loss
of confidentiality and no confidentiality issue" (paragraphs [51]-[55]) and
The City of Sydney v Streetscape Projects (Australia) Pty Ltd and Anor [
2011] NSWSC 942 at [32]- [37]. In this latter judgment, I said at [32]:
"I accept that in relation to the copyright, it is not open to the defendants
to rely on the 4930 Issue A Document as relevant to
the question of whether the
plaintiff is the owner of the Issue C Drawings or the Tender 9912 6400 Issue A
Drawings. This is because
reliance on the 4930 Issue A Document or drawings is
not pleaded."
(3) See also [8] of The City of Sydney v Streetscape Projects (Australia) Pty
Ltd and Anor [ 2011] NSWSC 942 under the heading "The defendants' position"
in which the defendants seek to rely on the Gyles J Judgment for the following
proposition:
"Gyles J held at para 136 that as between the City and Goldspar,
Goldspar has the copyright in the 4930 Issue A Drawings and the City
has the
copyright in the 4930 Issue C Drawings. According to his Honour, "there would be
significant similarities between a pole
constructed in accordance with issue A
drawings and a pole constructed in accordance with issue C drawings because one
is developed
from the other."
- In
so far as the Gyles J Judgment is tendered for the purpose of providing the
Court with the proper factual context, so that it can
fully appreciate all three
judgments of Gyles J, I accept the judgment is relevant and admissible. However,
it is appropriate that
the judgment be subject to a s 136 limiting order. It
would be unfairly prejudicial to the City for the defendants to rely on the
proposition that Goldspar are the
owners of copyright in the Issue A Drawings,
where the Court rejected such an approach in its 4 August 2011 judgment.
- The
Gyles J judgment is admissible, but not for the purposes of asserting that
Goldspar are the owners of the copyright in the Issue
A Drawings. This would
cause unfair prejudice to the City and would contradict the Court's findings in
previous judgments.
- Furthermore,
it has long been the common law that a Court may review its judgment at any time
until its orders have been perfected:
cf Autodesk Inc v Dyason [No.2]
[1993] HCA 6; (1993) 176 CLR 300 at 302-3.
Orders
- The
Court orders and directs that:
Injunctions
(1) Subject to order 9 below, the First Defendant by itself, its officers,
agents and employees be restrained from manufacturing,
distributing, offering
for sale or selling:
(a) the pole types and the accessories referred to in the Product Manual and the
Specification including improvements, enhancements,
modifications, adaptations
or extensions of those pole types and accessories after the date of the Licence
Agreement except insofar
as improvements, enhancements, modifications,
adaptations or extensions to the accessories which are attached to a pole other
than
for lighting, traffic signage, street signs or banner installations
provided that that part which is used to attach such item to
a pole shall not be
included in the above exception ;
(b) the poles and accessories referred to in Schedule A hereto;
(c) poles which use or contain the S1, S2 or S3 extrusion.
(2) Subject to order 9 below, the Second Defendant by himself, his agents or
employees be restrained from causing or permitting the
First Defendant to
manufacture, distribute, offer for sale or sell any of the poles and accessories
referred to in order 1 above.
(3) Subject to order 9 below, the First Defendant by itself, its officers,
agents and employees be restrained from disclosing or
permitting the disclosure
or using or permitting the use of any of the information in:
(a) the Product Manual;
(b) the Specification;
(c) drawings of the pole types and accessories in the Product Manual and
Specification including drawings containing improvements,
enhancements,
modifications, adaptations or extensions of those pole types and accessories
after the date of the Licence Agreement
except insofar as the drawings contain
improvements, enhancements, modifications, adaptations or extensions to the
accessories which
are attached to a pole other than for lighting, traffic
signage, street signs or banner installations provided that that part which
is
used to attach such item to a pole shall not be included in the above exception;
(d) drawings referred to in Schedule B hereto;
(e) drawings of the S1 extrusion;
(f) drawings of the S2 extrusion;
(g) drawings of the S3 extrusion; and
(h) drawings of any of the poles and accessories referred to in order 1 above
excepting, in relation to accessories, the types of
accessories within the
exception to order 1(a) above.
(4) Subject to order 9 below, the Second Defendant by himself, his agents or
employees be restrained from disclosing or using the
information referred to in
order 3 above or causing or permitting the First Defendant to disclose or permit
the disclosure of or
use or permit the use of any of the information referred to
in order 3 above.
(5) Subject to order 9 below, the First Defendant by itself, its officers,
agents and employees be restrained from using or permitting
the use of any
moulds:
(a) relating to or used in the manufacture of:
(i) the S1 extrusion;
(ii) the S2 extrusion;
(iii) the S3 extrusion;
(iv) any of the poles and accessories referred to in order 1; or
(b) based on or derived from any of the information or drawings referred to in
order 3 above.
(6) Subject to order 9 below, the Second Defendant by himself, his agents or
employees be restrained from using any of the moulds
referred to in order 5
above or causing or permitting the First Defendant to use or permit the use of
any of the moulds referred
to in order 5 above.
(7) Subject to order 9 below, the First Defendant by itself, its officers,
agents and employees be restrained from using or permitting
the use of the
Registered Design or the use of any moulds created from or based on the
Registered Design.
(8) Subject to order 9 below, the Second Defendant by himself, his agents or
employees be restrained from using or causing or permitting
the First Defendant
to use or permit the use of the Registered Design or causing or permitting the
First Defendant to use or permit
the use of the moulds referred to in order 5
above.
(9) Orders 1 to 8 above will not be enforceable insofar as the First Defendant
pursuant to clause 5(a) of the Second Deed of Variation
(as varied by the order
19 below) manufactures and sells the Adepole (catalogue item 41100) to the
Adelaide City Council for the
use by the Adelaide City Council within the
boundaries of the Adelaide City Council.
Registered Design
(10) A declaration that the First Defendant holds the Registered Design on trust
for the Plaintiff.
(11) Order that the First Defendant by itself, its officers, agents and
employees within 14 days do all things necessary to transfer
the legal title of
the Registered Design to the Plaintiff. If the First Defendant fails to comply
with this order, the Registrar
is hereby appointed to sign all documents
necessary or desirable to transfer the legal title of the Registered Design to
the Plaintiff.
Delivery up of documents
(12) Within 7 days of the date of this order, the First Defendant is to file and
serve an affidavit which:
(a) identifies all computer or electronic hardware in its custody, possession or
control (including in the possession of its employees,
servants and agents)
containing drawings of the poles and accessories referred to in order 1 above;
and
(b) identifies all third parties who are in the possession of drawings of the
poles and accessories referred to in order 1 above
and specifies their contact
details.
(13) Order that within 21 days the First Defendant by itself, its officers,
agents and employees deliver up to the Plaintiff, through
the Plaintiff's
solicitors:
(a) all documents (including in electronic format) containing the Product Manual
and the Specification;
(b) all drawings (including in electronic format) of the poles and accessories
referred to in order 1 above excepting, in relation
to accessories, the types of
accessories within the exception to order 1(a) above;
(c) all drawings (including in electronic format) referred to in order 3 above;
(d) all drawings (including in electronic format) held by any suppliers to or
subcontractors of the First Defendant who were involved
in or assisted in
manufacturing any of the poles or accessories referred to in order 1 above;
PROVIDED THAT this order does not apply to drawings of the Adepole (catalogue
item 41100) which contain designs that were to be specifically
be used in the
Adepole (catalogue 41100)
(14) Within 21 days from the date of this order, the First and Second Defendants
are to file and serve affidavits which:
(a) confirm that all drawings of the poles and accessories referred to in
paragraph 1 above and the drawings in order 3 (in hardcopy
or electronic format)
have been delivered up to the Plaintiff in accordance with order 13;
(b) confirm that all drawings of the poles and accessories referred to in
paragraph 1 above and the drawings in order 3 (in electronic
format) have been
permanently deleted from the First and Second Defendants' computer systems or
any computer on which they are held
in accordance with order 13;
(c) identify which drawings have been retained in accordance with the proviso to
order 13 identifying the drawings and the basis
for retention of the same.
(15) By 21 days from the service of the affidavits referred to in order 14
above, the First Defendant must allow an inspection by
the Plaintiff's
authorised representative of all computer systems in its possession, custody and
control or any computer on which
they are held to ensure compliance with the
orders in orders 13 and 14 above.
(16) Order that if, as a result of the inspection, it is found that the First
and Second Defendants remain in the possession of any
drawings referred to in
order 13 which they are not authorised to retain, the Plaintiff by its
authorised representative shall be
permitted to copy and delete the material
from the relevant computer.
Delivery up of moulds
(17) Within 7 days of the date of this order, the First Defendant is to file and
serve an affidavit, which:
(a) identifies each mould relating to or used in the manufacture of each pole
and accessory referred to in order 5(a) above or based
on or derived from the
information referred to in order 5(b) above and the particular part of the pole
or accessory which is manufactured
by its use;
(b) identifies each mould relating to or used in the manufacture of the Adepole
(catalogue item 41100) referred to in clause 5(a)
of the Second Deed of
Variation (as varied by the order in order 19 below) and the particular part of
the pole which is manufactured
by its use; and
(c) identifies the holder of each mould and provides contact details for each of
the identified holders, including address of the
location of the moulds,
telephone number and email address.
(18) Order that within 21 days the First Defendant by itself, its officers,
agents and employees deliver up to the Plaintiff, at
an address to be notified
by the Plaintiff within 15 days, all moulds relating to or used in the
manufacture of any of the poles
and accessories referred to in order 1 above or
based on or derived from any of the information or drawings referred to in order
3 above;
PROVIDED THAT this order does not apply to moulds that have been specifically
used by the First Defendant to manufacture and supply
the Adepole (catalogue
item 41100) to the Adelaide City Council and which contain designs that have
been brought into existence to
specifically be used in the Adepole (catalogue
item 41100) for the purpose of manufacturing and selling the Adepole (catalogue
item
41100) to the Adelaide City Council.
Adepole
(19) Order pursuant to s.87(2)(b) of the Trade Practices Act varying clause 5(a)
of the Second Deed of Variation such that it has the effect from the date of
entering in the Deed that the City
vested intellectual property in the Adepole
(catalogue item 41100) only to the extent that that pole is designed for the
Adelaide
City Council and is sold only to that Council by the addition of the
following words in that clause after the words "vests in the
Licensee":
"only to the extent necessary to enable the Licensee to manufacture and
supply the Adepole (catalogue item 41100) to the Adelaide
City Council for use
by the Adelaide City Council within its boundaries."
Judgments and Costs
(20) Judgment against the First Defendant in the amount of $9,376,043.64
together with interest pursuant to s.100 Civil Procedure Act 2005 in the sum of
$2,747,426.45.
(21) Judgment against the Second Defendant in the amount of $9,376,043.64
together with interest pursuant to s.100 Civil Procedure Act 2005 in the sum of
$2,747,426.45.
(22) The First Defendant's Cross-Claim be dismissed.
(23) Reserve all questions of costs.
Definitions
In these orders, the following expressions have the following meanings:
"Adelaide City Council" means The Corporation of the City of Adelaide
ABN 20 903 762 572;
"Adepole (catalogue item 41100)" means the pole designed for and sold
to the Adelaide City Council by the First Defendant for use by the Adelaide City
Council prior
to the date of entering into the Second Deed of Variation and
consisting of an extrusion and cladding but excluding accessories and
including
modifications or improvements made to that pole subsequent to the Second Deed of
Variation.
"Product Manual " means the manual for the assembly, configuration and
installation of the Smartpole poles and their accessories referred to in the
Licence Agreement between the Plaintiff and the First Defendant dated 26 August
2002 and which is Exhibit PX, Tender Bundle 8:122
in these proceedings (and
being Exhibit RM-2 to the Affidavit of Robert Stephen Matchett sworn 19 May
2010), including any developments,
refinements, or improvements of that manual
made by the First Defendant between 26 August 2002 and 26 August 2009.
"Registered Design" means the Design registered under the provisions
of the Designs Act 2003 and being registration number AU 146087 S.
"Specification" means the specification referred to in the Licence
Agreement between the Plaintiff and the First Defendant dated 26 August 2002 and
which is Exhibit PX, Tender Bundle 8:123 in these proceedings (and being Exhibit
RM-3 to the Affidavit of Robert Stephen Matchett
sworn 19 May 2010), including
any developments, refinements, or improvements of that specification made by the
First Defendant between
26 August 2002 and 26 August 2009.
16 September Tender
(1) The affidavit of Jeffrey Collins affirmed 24 August 2011 is inadmissible;
and
(2) The Gyles J judgment is admissible, but it is not admissible for the
purposes of asserting that Goldspar are the owners of the
copyright in the Issue
A Drawings
**********
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