In May 2008, the Federal Court found that a truck body manufacturer, Vawdrey Australia Pty Ltd (Vawdrey), infringed copyright by indirectly copying the “load constraint system” drawings of Krueger Transport Equipment Pty Ltd (Krueger). The parties found to have authorised the infringement, and disclosed information in breach of confidence, subsequently settled the claims by Krueger.

The Court has considered the question of monetary relief claimed from Vawdrey. Vawdrey was precluded from relying on an innocent infringement defence because the company failed to make reasonable inquiries to identify the source of its instructions and was aware of Kreuger’s concerns about infringements.

The Court concluded that the claim concerned a “single course of infringement” (Vawdrey’s drawings and trailer manufacture) and therefore it was inappropriate to apportion damages between the defendants, however, it was appropriate to deduct the settlement amount received.

Based on the component approach to calculating loss to Krueger, the Court concluded that Vawdrey should be ordered to pay $346,449.59 in damages. Damages for secondary loss, caused by Vawdrey’s advertising and first-entrant advantage, were estimated at $10,000. The Court could not find that the costs claimed for mitigating the infringement were foreseeable or caused by Vawdrey. The Court considered that an appropriate award of additional damages was $30,000. Costs are to be awarded as a percentage of Krueger’s overall costs.

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Krueger Transport Equipment Pty Ltd v Glen Cameron Storage & Distribution Pty Ltd (No 2) [2008] FCA 1493 (9 October 2008)

On 28 October 2008, the Federal Court ordered Vawdrey Australia Pty Ltd (Vawdrey) to pay damages of $438,904.60.

The Court observed that this amount, agreed between the parties, is approximately $100,000 more than the amount that the Court had earlier concluded should be awarded against Vaudrey for infringing copyright in the drawings of Krueger Transport Equipment Pty Ltd.

Costs were also awarded against Vawdrey.

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Krueger Transport Equipment Pty Ltd v Glen Cameron Storage & Distribution Pty Ltd (No 3) [2008] FCA 1592 (28 October 2008)