Aristocrat Technologies, Inc., et al v. Light & Wonder, Inc., et al

CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedNovember 24, 2025
Docket2:24-cv-00382
StatusUnknown

This text of Aristocrat Technologies, Inc., et al v. Light & Wonder, Inc., et al (Aristocrat Technologies, Inc., et al v. Light & Wonder, Inc., et al) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Aristocrat Technologies, Inc., et al v. Light & Wonder, Inc., et al, (D. Nev. 2025).

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 Aristocrat Technologies, Inc., et al, 2:24-cv-00382-GMN-MDC 4 Plaintiff(s), 5 vs. REDACTED ORDER PER ECF NO. 334 6 7 Light & Wonder, Inc., et al, 8 Defendant(s). 9 10 The parties filed Joint Stipulations Regarding Discovery Disputes (referred to individually as 11 (1)“Stipulation Regarding Privilege Issue,” (2)“Stipulation Regarding Discovery Topic,” and 12 (3)“Stipulation Regarding Apex Witness”)(ECF Nos. 275, 295, 296, 305, and 306) and multiple Motions 13 to Seal (“Motions”)(ECF Nos. 297, 304, and 307). The Court GRANTS AND DENIES the Stipulations 14 in part and GRANTS the Motions. 15 I. BACKGROUND 16 Plaintiffs Aristocrat Technologies, Inc. and Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd., 17 (“Aristocrat”) and Defendants Light & Wonder, Inc., LNW Gaming, Inc., and SciPlay Corporation, 18 (“L&W”) are competitors in the electronic gaming space. ECF No. 206. Aristocrat alleges that L&W 19 copied Aristocrat’s game design and underlying math algorithms. Id. 20 II. DISCUSSION 21 A. Legal Standard 22 “Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party's 23 claim or defense….” See FRCP 26(b)(1). However, the “court has wide discretion in controlling 24 discovery." Little v. City of Seattle, 863 F.2d 681, 685 (9th Cir. 1988). The court may limit discovery 25 1 that is unreasonably cumulative or duplicative. Diamond State Ins. Co. v. Rebel Oil Co., 157 F.R.D. 2 691, 697 (D. Nev. 1994). The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure “should be construed, administered, and 3 employed by the court and the parties to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every 4 action and proceeding.” See FRCP 1. 5 The attorney-client privilege protects confidential communications between a client and his or 6 her attorney for the purpose of obtaining or dispensing legal advice. United States v. Chen, 99 F.3d 7 1495, 1501 (9th Cir. 1996). Federal privilege law applies where the court's jurisdiction is based on a 8 federal question. Nat'l Labor Relations Bd. v. N. Bay Plumbing, Inc., 102 F.3d 1005, 1009 (9th Cir. 9 1996) (citing Fed. R. Evid. 501)). 10 The burden of establishing the attorney-client relationship and the privileged nature of each 11 communication lies with the party claiming privilege. United States v. Bauer, 132 F.3d 504, 507 (9th 12 Cir. 1997). "One of the elements that the asserting party must prove is that it has not waived the 13 privilege." Weil v. Inv./Indicators, Research & Mgmt., Inc., 647 F.2d 18, 25 (9th Cir. 1981). Waiver may 14 be express or implied. Bittaker v. Woodford, 331 F.3d 715, 719 (9th Cir. 2003)(Noting that “[t]he court 15 imposing the waiver does not order disclosure of the materials categorically; rather, the court directs the 16 party holding the privilege to produce the privileged materials if it wishes to go forward with its claims 17 implicating them. The court thus gives the holder of the privilege a choice: If you want to litigate this 18 claim, then you must waive your privilege to the extent necessary to give your opponent a fair 19 opportunity to defend against it. Essentially, the court is striking a bargain with the holder of the 20 privilege by letting him know how much of the privilege he must waive in order to proceed with his 21 claim.”). “The privilege is waived only when a party chooses to utilize the [privileged] information to 22 advance a claim or defense.” Sorensen v. Black & Decker Corp., No. 06cv1572-BTM (CAB), 2007 WL 23 1976652, at *2 (S.D. Cal. Apr. 9, 2007). See also Bittaker, 331 F.3d at, 719 (“In practical terms, this 24 means that parties in litigation may not abuse the privilege by asserting claims the opposing party cannot 25 1 adequately dispute unless it has access to the privileged materials. The party asserting the claim is said 2 to have implicitly waived the privilege.”). 3 It is well established that voluntary disclosure of the content of a privileged attorney 4 communication constitutes a waiver of the privilege as to all other such communications on the same 5 subject. United States v. Gann, 732 F.2d 714, 723 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1034, 105 S. Ct. 505, 6 83 L. Ed. 2d 397 (1984). "Consideration of whether work product protection has been waived requires a 7 court to balance competing interests: 'the need for discovery' with 'the right of an attorney to retain the 8 benefits of his own research.'" SNK Corp. of America v. Atlus Dream Entertainment Co., Ltd., 188 9 F.R.D. 566, 571 (N.D. Cal. 1999) (quoting Handgards, Inc. v. Johnson & Johnson, 413 F. Supp. 926, 10 932 (N.D. Cal. 1976)). However, even when a court orders disclosure of work product material, it must 11 protect against the disclosure of so-called "opinion work product" -- that is, "the mental impressions, 12 conclusions, opinions, or legal theories of a party's attorney or other representative concerning the 13 litigation." Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(3)(B). Under Ninth Circuit law, opinion work product is discoverable 14 only if it is "at issue in a case and the need for the material is compelling." Holmgren v. State Farm Mut. 15 Auto. Ins. Co., 976 F.2d 573, 577 (9th Cir. 1992) ("[a] party seeking opinion work product must make a 16 showing beyond the substantial need/undue hardship test required under Rule 26(b)(3) for non-opinion 17 work product."); Verigy US Inc. v. Mayder, No. C07-04330 RMW (HRL), 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18 111512, at *5-6 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 7, 2008). Unless a particular court record is one "traditionally kept 19 secret," a "strong presumption in favor of access" is the starting point. Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. 20 Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003). 21 The Court has discretion to prohibit the deposition of a high-level corporate executive, or "apex" 22 deponent, given the "tremendous potential for abuse or harassment" that exists for such discovery. Int'l 23 Game Tech. v. Illinois Nat'l Ins. Co., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 228393, 2018 WL 7499823, at *2 (D. Nev. 24 Apr. 6, 2018)(internal citations omitted). A deponent's status as a high-level executive alone is not a 25 1 reason to prohibit his deposition. Courts within the Ninth Circuit consider two factors when deciding 2 whether or not to allow the deposition of a high-level executive: (1) whether the executive has unique, 3 personal knowledge of relevant information; and (2) whether the party seeking the information has 4 exhausted other less intrusive discovery methods. See Apple v. Samsung Elecs. Co., Ltd., 282 F.R.D. 5 259, 263 (N.D. Cal. 2012); see also Luangisa v. Interface Operations, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 139700, 6 2011 WL 6029880 (D. Nev. Dec. 5, 2011).

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Aristocrat Technologies, Inc., et al v. Light & Wonder, Inc., et al, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aristocrat-technologies-inc-et-al-v-light-wonder-inc-et-al-nvd-2025.