Apeldyn Corporation v. Sony Corporation, et al., C.A. Nos. 11-440 – SLR-SRF; 11-581-SLR-SRF, July 27 2016.

Robinson, J. Defendants’ motion to review taxation of costs is granted in part and denied in part.

Delaware Local Rule 54.1 provides guidance as to how the court generally exercises it discretion to award costs. The court retains discretion to award costs beyond those limitations or not to award costs at all. The burden is on the party seeking costs to prove entitlement.  The court rules that the taxation of costs with respect to certain depositions is amended to include $6,783.05. The mathematical precision used by the clerk to assess whether depositions were “necessarily used”  in a case to resolve a material issue is a reasonable starting point for the clerk but is not always the best barometer.  The depositions were cited as important considerations in granting summary judgment and the court concludes that the depositions were necessarily and substantially used to resolve material issues.  Costs associated with videotaping should not be reimbursed. The videotape was not used in the motion practice, and it is rare for an expert not to testify live at trial. Defendants had no reasonable basis to incur this cost.  The court further concludes that defendants should recover some, but not all, costs of electronic discovery.  It awards 25% of defendants’ e-discovery costs, noting that defendants opposed an early resolution and elected to proceed with discovery.