On April 11, the Federal Court of Canada has ordered an assessment of costs in the long-running patent infringement case between Paid Search Engine Tools, LLC and Google Canada Corporation., as Google’s fees should be assessed in accordance with the upper range of the Federal Court’s Column of IV of Tariff B, “and that Google shall be reimbursed for the disbursements that are shown to be reasonable and necessary.”

The court’s public judgement and reasons were handed down by Justice McDonald in January, having dismissed the plaintiff's claim against the defendant for infringing a patent, “Paid Search Engine Bid Management,” designed to support advertisers in managing their bids for online advertising space on paid search engines. The disputed patent was eventually found invalid on several grounds including anticipation, obviousness, and insufficiency. Google’s counterclaim was allowed and it claimed costs of nearly $2.6 million in fees and disbursements. However, Paid Search Engine Tools, LLC, submitted that costs should be limited to $507,866, and that Google should not be allowed to recover certain expert witness fees.