A Blog About Intellectual Property Litigation and the District of Delaware


Entries for tag: Privilege

On the Importance of Consistency

Andrew E. Russell, Dec. 30, 2022
Privilege Objections to R&Rs

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愚木混株 cdd20, Unsplash

We got a good "what not to do" example today, relayed in an opinion by Judge Williams.

In the opinion, the Court addressed objections to a magistrate judge ruling on a privilege issue (remember—you can object to non-dispositive magistrate judge rulings in addition to R&Rs. Good luck.).

As the Court explained, the defendants initially argued to the magistrate judge that Third Circuit law governed, and that Federal Circuit law was grounded in the same principles as Third Circuit law anyway. The magistrate judge agreed:

In briefing submitted to the Magistrate Judge, Defendants state that, "Federal Circuit [law] does not differ [from Third Circuit law] in that it 'is grounded in principles of fairness. '" D.I. 224 at 3. The Magistrate Judge credited Defendants' argument to conclude Third Circuit law applies. See D.I. 232 at 3 n.2 ("Because Defendants themselves initially relied on Third Circuit caselaw here (as did Plaintiff) and because Defendants assert that the Third Circuit's approach to this issue is no different from that of the Federal Circuit, the Court will herein apply Third Circuit law regarding the 'at issue' doctrine to this patent case." ).

Then, in objecting to the magistrate judge's ruling, the defendants apparently reversed position, arguing that Federal Circuit law differed, and that the magistrate judge had erred by relying on

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A Narrow Doctrine

Nathan R. Hoeschen, Oct. 27, 2022
Privilege

Douglas Lopez, Unsplash

How, in the 8,000 year history of law, have we not come up with a better name than the "at issue" doctrine? I hesitate to call it the shame of our profession, but it's firmly in the running.

I pose some alternatives below. To make it clear, any highlighted words refer to the doctrine formerly known as "at issue." Feel free to use going forward -- creative commons or whatever.

This Will Go On For Longer Than You Think

Judge Burke had an interesting case regarding the sneaky peak doctrine. In Sensormatic Electronics, LLC v. Genetec (USA) Inc., the issue arose in the context of an inequitable conduct allegation, where defendants sought evidence about what exactly …

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Status Communications Between Litigation and Prosecution Counsel Were Not Privileged

Andrew E. Russell, Oct. 19, 2022
Prosecution Prosecution Counsel

Something is missing here.
Something is missing here. Pawel Czerwinski, Unsplash

A recent privilege decision from Judge Fallon became public this week, after the redactions period expired, and it has some interesting conclusions about communications between patent prosecution and patent litigation counsel.

In Huber Engineered Woods LLC v. Louisiana-Pacific Corp., C.A. No. 19-342-GBW-SRF (D. Del.), the defendant accused infringer brought an inequitable conduct counterclaim, alleging that plaintiff knowingly submitted five false "Substitute Statements in Lieue of Oath or Declaration" to the PTO.

As the Court explains, the defendant apparently relied on testimony from the person who signed the statements, and from the inventors, to allege that they were false:

These Substitute Statements, which were signed by [plaintiff] HEW employee Dave …
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Court Compels Defendant to Provide Witness on 30(b)(6) Topics Even If "Many (If Not Most, or All)" Questions Likely to Draw Privilege-Related Instructions Not to Answer

Andrew E. Russell, April 29, 2022
MTC Motion to Compel

Illustration of the stone wall plaintiff will face when they actually depose this person.
Illustration of the stone wall plaintiff will face when they actually depose this person. eberhard grossgasteiger, Unsplash

In The United States of America v. Gilead Sciences, Inc., C.A. No. 19-2103-MN (D. Del.), plaintiff moved to compel defendant to produce a 30(b)(6) witness on various topics, including on "[a]ll bases" for certain statements by defendant's CEO, including statements about a decision not to challenge the validity of certain patents.

As to two of those topics, the defendant argued in its responsive letter that the CEO's statements were "based entirely on communications and memoranda prepared by Gilead’s in-house counsel and outside counsel," which are privileged. The Court generally agreed:

[T]he Court definitely acknowledges Defendants' point[, ]i.e., …
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Spreadsheet of Estimated Damages & Royalties Must Be Produced, Even If Created "to Determine Which Companies to Reach Out to Regarding a Licensing Deal"

Andrew E. Russell, Oct. 19, 2021
Work Product Privilege Log

Not this kind of camera
Not this kind of camera Jakob Owens, Unsplash

Judge Hall issued a detailed privilege opinion last week, finding no privilege or work product protection for a number of documents after an in-camera review (while also finding that some others were privileged).

There are a number of useful holdings in the opinion. Some of the disputes arose in part because the custodian of the documents in question was unavailable, which means that the producing party lacks context for many of the documents.

For that reason, the producing party was unable to defend against production by offering a declaration that a document was prepared in anticipation of litigation, and the opinion resolves many of the disputes based purely on the text …

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Judge Andrews Gives His Thoughts on Privilege of Pre-Litigation Scientific Testing Results, Strikes "Unsolicited" Declarations

Andrew E. Russell, Aug. 2, 2021
Privilege Litigation

Science!
Hans Reniers, Unsplash

On Friday, Judge Andrews issued an opinion adopting a Special Master opinion, which held that certain pre-litigation testing documents were not covered by attorney privilege.

Pre-Litigation Testing Not Protected by Attorney-Client Privilege If Not Provided to Attorneys

The Court found that the pre-litigation scientific testing was not covered by attorney-client privilege, even though they may have been done "at the direction of" a law firm, because the core purpose was for the client's understanding rather than for facilitating legal advice:

I do not think [plaintiff] First Quality has shown that the attorney-client privilege applies to any of the [relevant] disputed . . . documents. Plaintiff's position is that everything [the expert] Dr. Malburg did falls "well …
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How Common Is Your Interest?

David M. Fry, April 14, 2021
ANDA Common Interest Privilege

Earlier today, Judge Burke unsealed an interesting order addressing the applicability of the common-interest doctrine to communications between a generic pharmaceutical company and its API manufacturer.

No attorneys directly participated in most of the underlying communications, but the defendants argued that they shared "a common legal interest" with their API manufacturer in avoiding a lawsuit "and that their communications furthered that interest." Although Judge Burke found that this "argument has some initial, superficial appeal[,]" in that "the subject of these communications is in some sense legal in nature[,]" he concluded that any shared legal interest came too late:

when one contextualizes the communications with regard to what was happening in the relevant time period, Defendants have not met …
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Judge Andrews Strikes Down "Frivolous" Privilege Claims

Jeff Castellano, Dec. 8, 2020
Privilege Discovery Dispute

Last week, Judge Andrews ruled on claims of privilege by Express Mobile ("EM") in Shopify, Inc. v. Express Mobile, Inc., C.A. No. 19-439-RGA, finding that several of the claims were "frivolous," and ordering a revised privilege log and supporting lawyer declarations "so that I know who to blame should Express Mobile continue to baselessly assert claims of privilege."

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District Judge Reverses Magistrate, Orders Production of Purported Common Interest Material

Andrew E. Russell, Dec. 6, 2020
FRCP 72 Common Interest Privilege

Corporations, looking down at the tattered remains of their common interest privilege
Corporations, looking down at the tattered remains of their common interest privilege Foggy skyscrapers, Matthew Henry, Unsplash

When magistrate judges are referred a dispositive matter, they issue an R&R that goes to the district judge. In Delaware, an R&R typically notes the objection period at the end, and the losing party typically (but not always) files objections.

When magistrate judges are referred a non-dispositive matter, they issue an order (and possibly an opinion). The order typically does not mention any review period or process for review.

What parties often forget is that you can object to a magistrate judge's order just as easily as you can to an R&R under FRCP 72. And, in fact, the District Court …

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Court Permits Deposition Questions on Litigation Financing Arrangements

Andrew E. Russell, Oct. 5, 2020
Depositions MTC

I thought this was interesting. Last week Judge Burke granted a motion to compel a plaintiff's witness to respond on questions about the plaintiff's litigation financing arrangements.

Apparently plaintiff's attorneys instructed the witness not to answer at the deposition, but in the discovery dispute they only argued that the information is irrelevant, and did not raise privilege. Since relevance is not a valid justification for an instruction not to answer under FRCP 30, the Court permitted defendant to re-ask the question and held that plaintiff's witness must answer.

About Those Redacted Versions

I say plaintiff "apparently" objected only on reasonableness grounds because plaintiff never filed the redacted version of its sealed letter brief—a common problem.

If parties continue …

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