Nugget Distributors Cooperative of America, Inc. v. Mr. Nugget, Inc.

145 F.R.D. 54, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22482, 1992 WL 371305
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 21, 1992
DocketCiv. A. No. 89-8780
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 145 F.R.D. 54 (Nugget Distributors Cooperative of America, Inc. v. Mr. Nugget, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nugget Distributors Cooperative of America, Inc. v. Mr. Nugget, Inc., 145 F.R.D. 54, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22482, 1992 WL 371305 (E.D. Pa. 1992).

Opinion

ORDER

HUYETT, District Judge.

Upon consideration of plaintiffs motion for costs, defendant’s response, the parties’ supplemental briefing and because:

1. Plaintiff Nugget Distributors Cooperative of America, Inc. d/b/a Nugget Distributors, Inc. petitions the Court for an award of costs in the amount of $41,997.75 pursuant to the entry of judgment against defendant Mr. Nugget, Inc. on all counts of plaintiff’s amended complaint.

2. Plaintiff seeks an award of costs pursuant to Section 35(a) of the Lanham Act, which provides for an award of “costs of the action” to a party who establishes a violation of the Act in a civil action. 15 U.S.C. § 1117(a). Plaintiff argues that under Fed.R.Civ.P. 54, the determination of which costs will be awarded to a prevailing party is a matter left to the sound discretion of the district court. Farmer v. Arabian American Oil Co., 379 U.S. 227, 85 S.Ct. 411, 13 L.Ed.2d 248 (1964); Copperweld Steel Co. v. Demag-Mannesmann-Bohler, 624 F.2d 7 (3d Cir.1980). Plaintiff acknowledges that the types of costs allowable under Rule 54(d) are specifically defined in 28 U.S.C. § 1920, but argues that that list is “not intended to be all-inclusive and is expandable unless a statute or rule dictates otherwise.” Pennsylvania v. Local Union 542, International Union of Operating Engineers, 507 F.Supp. 1146, 1153 (E.D.Pa.1980).

3. Defendant objects to plaintiff’s claim for costs because (1) plaintiff is attempting to recover all of its out-of-pocket expenses rather than recoverable costs under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1821 and 1920, and (2) many of the submitted expenses are insufficiently itemized. Defendant contends that in Farmer, the Supreme Court enunciated the national policy that the discretion given the district court to tax costs should be sparingly exercised.

4. Trial courts are vested with the sound discretion to allow and to apportion costs under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d). Farmer, 379 U.S. at 232, 85 S.Ct. at 415. Although this discretion is not unbounded, it allows the district court a wide range within which its determination will not be upset by an appellate court. Copperweld Steel, 624 F.2d 7. The types of costs allowable under Rule 54(d) are explicitly defined in 28 U.S.C. § 1920. However, plaintiff is correct in contending that this list is not intended to be all-inclusive and is expandable unless a statute or rule dictates otherwise. Local Union 542, 507 F.Supp. at 1152.

5. In exercising its discretion to depart from the expenses listed in the statute, however, the district court must give careful scrutiny to the costs claimed by the [57]*57prevailing party and exercise its discretion sparingly with reference to expenses not specifically allowed by statute. Farmer, 379 U.S. at 235, 85 S.Ct. at 415; Walker v. Robbins Hose Co. No. 1, Inc., 622 F.2d 692, 694 (3d Cir.1980). The Supreme Court has explicitly held that Rule 54(d) does not give the district court unrestrained discretion to tax costs to reimburse a winning litigant for every expense he incurred. Id.

6. In light of the Supreme Court’s demand that the district court “carefully scrutinize” those costs which the statute does not specifically authorize, I will take the following actions regarding plaintiff’s specific claims:

(a) Filing Fee and Fees for Unpublished Opinions

Section 1920 authorizes the award of costs for “fees of the clerk and marshall.” 28 U.S.C. § 1920(1). This language clearly encompasses the filing fee of $120.00 claimed by plaintiff. Pennsylvania v. O’Neill, 431 F.Supp. 700 (E.D.Pa.1977), aff'd, 573 F.2d 1301 (3d Cir.1978).

Under this heading, plaintiff also claims a charge of $104.50 for obtaining a copy of a district court decision from the court and a $13.00 charge for obtaining copies of decisions from the Third Circuit. These charges are denied for two reasons. First, plaintiff makes no claim that the fees paid for these opinions were paid to the clerk or marshall, as the statute requires. Second, even if these charges were paid to the clerk, they hardly represent the fees envisioned by the statute. Obtaining copies of cases is a facet of research, an activity which is not taxable to the losing litigant.

(b) Photocopies and Scanning

Fees for exemplification and copies of papers necessarily obtained for use in the case are specifically taxable under § 1920(4). Under this section, plaintiff’s claims for the costs of photocopies are taxable. Action Alliance for Senior Citizens of Greater Philadelphia, Inc. v. Shapp, 74 F.R.D. 617 (E.D.Pa.1977). However, a close examination of plaintiff’s claim reveals that its photocopying costs in this case were exorbitant. Plaintiff claims a total charge of at least $4,300.00 for copies—a figure representing a $.25 charge for at least 17,000 copies. Because these figures are clearly excessive, and because they are often lumped together with other costs, I will reduce the amount awarded as photocopying costs by 50%. Proffitt v. Municipal Authority of Borough of Morrisville, 716 F.Supp. 837, 854 (E.D.Pa.1989) (court found copy costs excessive and reduced award for copies by 50%).

In addition to photocopying charges, plaintiff requests reimbursement for scanning costs. As this service appears to be merely an office convenience and overhead expense—and plaintiff fails to argue otherwise—this charge will be denied.

(c) Fees for Copies of Trademark Registration

Plaintiff claims $1,625.00 in costs arising from the acquisition of certain trademark registrations from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This cost is recoverable under § 1920(4), covering “fees for exemplification____” However, defendant objects to the size of this fee, because under 37 CFR § 2.6(b)(4)(i), the cost of obtaining such a registration is normally only $10.00 (or $20.00 for rush service), and only three (3) registrations were pleaded in the case.

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Bluebook (online)
145 F.R.D. 54, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22482, 1992 WL 371305, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nugget-distributors-cooperative-of-america-inc-v-mr-nugget-inc-paed-1992.