Bluetooth SIG, Inc. v. FCA US, LLC

District Court, W.D. Washington·Decided June 24, 2020·No. 2:18-cv-01493·Unknown

Opinion

HONORABLE RICHARD A. JONES 1

6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 8 BLUETOOTH SIG, INC., a Delaware 9 corporation, 10 Case No. 2:18-cv-01493-RAJ Plaintiff,

11 ORDER v.

12 FCA US LLC, a Delaware limited liability 13 company, 14 Defendant. 15 16 I. INTRODUCTION 17 Before the Court are three motions. Having considered the submissions of the 18 parties, the relevant portions of the record, and the applicable law, the Court finds that 19 oral argument is unnecessary. For the reasons below, Plaintiff’s Motion to Exclude the 20 Expert Report and Testimony of David T. Neal (Dkt. # 57) is DENIED; Defendant’s 21 Motion to Exclude Christopher Gerardi’s Testimony and Opinions (Dkt. # 151) is 22 GRANTED in part and DENIED in part; and Defendant’s Motion to Exclude Michal 23 Malkiewicz (Dkt. # 152) is DENIED. 24 Two preliminary matters: First, in ruling on the parties’ cross motions for 25 summary judgment, the Court summarized the facts of this case. Dkt. # 202. To avoid 26 duplication, the Court refers the parties to that order for background information. 27 Second, Defendant’s counsel should rethink their use of footnotes. The Court strongly 1 disfavors footnoted legal citations, which serve as an end-run around page limits and 2 formatting requirements dictated by the Local Rules. See Local Rules W.D. Wash. LCR 3 7(e). Moreover, several courts have observed that “citations are highly relevant in a legal 4 brief” and including them in footnotes “makes brief-reading difficult.” Wichansky v. 5 Zowine, No. CV-13-01208-PHX-DGC, 2014 WL 289924, at *1 n.1 (D. Ariz. Jan. 24, 6 2014). The Court strongly discourages the parties from footnoting their legal citations in 7 any future submissions. See Kano v. Nat’l Consumer Co-op Bank, 22 F.3d 899-900 (9th 8 Cir. 1994). 9 II. LEGAL STANDARD 10 The admissibility of expert opinions is guided by Federal Rule of Evidence 702, 11 which in part states that an expert by “knowledge, skill, experience, training or education 12 may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise if . . . the expert’s scientific, technical 13 or other specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to 14 determine a fact in issue.” Fed. R. Evid. 702. A trial court must ensure that an expert’s 15 testimony “both rests on a reliable foundation and is relevant to the task at hand.” 16 Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharm., Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 597 (1993). The testimony is 17 reliable “if the knowledge underlying it has a reliable basis in the knowledge and 18 experience of the relevant discipline,” and it is relevant “if the knowledge underlying it 19 has a valid connection to the pertinent inquiry.” Primiano v. Cook, 598 F.3d 558, 565 20 (9th Cir. 2010) (quoting United States v. Sandoval–Mendoza, 472 F.3d 645, 654 (9th Cir. 21 2006)). “Shaky but admissible evidence” is to be attacked by “[v]igorous cross- 22 examination, presentation of contrary evidence, and careful instruction on the burden of 23 proof,” not exclusion. Daubert, 509 U.S. at 596. 24 III. DISCUSSION 25 Plaintiff Bluetooth SIG, Inc. (“Bluetooth”) moves to exclude the report and 26 testimony of David T. Neal, an expert offered by Defendant FCA US LLC (“FCA”). 27 Dkt. # 57. Based on a survey that he conducted, Mr. Neal concludes that FCA’s use of 1 the word “Bluetooth” does not make consumers more likely to buy an FCA vehicle. Id. 2 at 6. On the other hand, FCA moves to exclude the testimony of Bluetooth’s experts, 3 Christopher P. Gerardi and Michal A. Malkiewicz. Dkt. ## 151, 152. Mr. Gerardi opines 4 on the amount that FCA may owe if Bluetooth succeeds, and Mr. Malkiewicz, a rebuttal 5 expert, cites several deficiencies in Mr. Neal’s survey. The Court analyzes each motion 6 in turn. 7 A. David T. Neal 8 To “isolate the value that likely purchasers of FCA vehicles place” on the 9 BLUETOOTH word mark, Mr. Neal designed and executed a national survey. Dkt. 10 # 158-7 at 218. The purpose of the survey was to measure the value that consumers place 11 on the BLUETOOTH word mark against the value that they place on the underlying 12 “functionality enabled by the technology.” Id. at 220. 13 To that end, Mr. Neal surveyed how different consumers responded to different 14 Monroney labels. Id. at 219. Monroney labels, or “window stickers,” list specifications 15 about a given vehicle and must be displayed on a new vehicle displayed for sale. Id. at 16 219. About half the survey respondents were randomly assigned and shown the standard 17 Monroney label for the Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited (“Grand Cherokee”). Id. The 18 standard Monroney label served as the “Test Condition” and listed as a feature 19 “Integrated Voice Command with Bluetooth.” Id. (emphasis added). The remaining 20 respondents were shown the “Control Condition,” which was the same Monroney label 21 but with alternate wording, “Integrated Voice Command with Wireless Smartphone 22 Connectivity.” Id. (emphasis added). The survey then asked all respondents whether 23 they would be willing to buy the Grand Cherokee at various prices, beginning with the 24 manufacturer’s suggested retail price and offering several discounts from there. Id. at 25 221. Analyzing the results of the survey, Mr. Neal concludes that “use of the term 26 ‘Bluetooth’ in describing the wireless smartphone capability of an FCA vehicle does not 27 cause any consumers to be more likely to buy an FCA vehicle at full price . . . [or at] a 1 discount.” Id. at 224. 2 Bluetooth argues that this survey, its accompanying report, and Mr. Neal’s 3 testimony should be excluded. Dkt. # 57. Bluetooth says that the term “wireless 4 smartphone connectivity” is “completely ambiguous,” that the Grand Cherokee is not a 5 representative sample of all FCA vehicles, and that the survey does not replicate 6 marketplace conditions. Id. at 8-15. These flaws, Bluetooth says, warrant exclusion 7 under Rules 702 and 403 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. Id. at 15. 8 The Ninth Circuit has long held that survey evidence should be admitted “as long 9 as [it is] conducted according to accepted principles and [is] relevant.” Fortune 10 Dynamic, Inc. v. Victoria’s Secret Stores Brand Mgmt., Inc., 618 F.3d 1025, 1036 (9th 11 Cir. 2010) (alterations in original) (quoting Wendt v. Host Int’l, Inc., 125 F.3d 806, 814 12 (9th Cir. 1997)). “Challenges to survey methodology go to the weight given [to] the 13 survey, not its admissibility.” Wendt, 125 F.3d at 814. This includes challenges to 14 “methodology, survey design, reliability, the experience and the reputation of the expert, 15 critique of conclusions, and the like.” Clicks Billiards, Inc. v. Sixshooters, Inc., 251 F.3d 16 1252, 1263 (9th Cir. 2001). 17 Because Mr. Neal’s survey is reliable and relevant, it will not be excluded. Mr. 18 Neal used a “direct survey,” which he contended is a “staple[] in the academic literature” 19 and “appear[s] routinely in the pages of top peer-reviewed scholarly journals.” Dkt. 20 # 158-7 at 219. Bluetooth does not contest that. Thus, the survey was reliable as it was 21 conducted using accepted principles.

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