O’Brien’s Irish Sandwich Bars Limited has been awarded its High Court legal costs against Ann Marie Byrne following a franchise dispute in which the company recovered €35,516.87 in damages and successfully defended the validity of its franchise agreements.
The ruling dealt specifically with costs following an earlier judgment delivered on 17 December 2008.
Miss Justice Laffoy said Byrne’s argument that the franchise agreements were void and unenforceable had failed. Her attempt to have the proceedings struck out for abuse of process or non-disclosure also failed, as did her counterclaim for damages.
The sandwich-bar company did not succeed on every element of its case. Part of its claim for injunctive relief under one franchise clause failed. However, Byrne had already given permanent undertakings concerning some of that conduct during the interlocutory stage.
The court also made no final restraining order under a separate non-compete clause because the relevant restraint period had expired by the time judgment was delivered. The judge nevertheless found that O’Brien’s had been entitled to the injunction it sought. Byrne had also ceased trading at the Suffolk Street premises and said she did not intend to compete with the company in future.
O’Brien’s succeeded on its damages claim, although the €35,516.87 award fell within the Circuit Court’s monetary jurisdiction. Byrne argued that each side should therefore bear its own costs.
The High Court rejected that submission. It found that O’Brien’s had prevailed on the principal issues, including protection against passing off and enforcement of non-compete provisions.
The judge also granted a special costs certificate permitting recovery on the High Court scale. She held that the declaratory and injunctive relief concerned complex franchise provisions and difficult legal questions, making it reasonable for the proceedings to have been brought in the High Court despite the eventual level of damages.