Not necessarily, here is what AI says ”without cost to any party” means:
The phrase “without costs to any party” only addresses legal costs, not substantive damages or settlement payments, so it doesn’t rule out a payment. But the ruling alone gives no confirmation either way. If NWBO is a publicly traded company, they may be required to disclose material settlement terms in an SEC filing, which would be the best place to look for clarity.
Perhaps in the settlement NWBO was given something valuable that was not money! The new owners of CANACCORD may have provided inside information to the network operations of other parties....
interesting timing with the discovery due in a few days...