Cutler v. Lewiston Daily Sun

105 F.R.D. 137, 1 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 258, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21854
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maine
DecidedMarch 12, 1985
DocketCiv. No. 84-0042 P
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 105 F.R.D. 137 (Cutler v. Lewiston Daily Sun) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cutler v. Lewiston Daily Sun, 105 F.R.D. 137, 1 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 258, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21854 (D. Me. 1985).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO COMPEL ANSWERS TO INTERROGATORIES AND PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS AND PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO COMPEL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS PROPOUNDED AT DEPOSITION

GENE CARTER, District Judge.

Defendant has objected to and refused to answer numerous interrogatories, requests for production of documents and deposition questions propounded by PÍaintiffs. In the two motions presently before the Court, Plaintiffs request the Court to compel Defendant to respond to all of the discovery inquiries to which Defendant has objected.

Defendant rests most of its objections to Plaintiffs’ discovery inquiries on two [140]*140grounds: (1) that the information sought is irrelevant to the issues in the case; and (2) that the information sought is in the nature of trade secrets because disclosure would be harmful to its position vis-a-vis its competitors.

Under Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1), the parties may obtain discovery “regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action ...” (Emphasis added.) The rule further provides that it is “not ground for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” (Emphasis added.) The phrase, “relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action,” has been construed broadly to encompass “any matter that bears on, or that reasonably could lead to other matter that could bear on, any issue that is or may be in the case.” Oppenheimer Fund, Inc. v. Sanders, 437 U.S. 340, 351, 98 S.Ct. 2380, 2389, 57 L.Ed.2d 253 (1978); See also 4 J. Moore, J. Lucas, G. Grotheer, Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 26.56[1] at 26-94 (2d ed. 1984).

There is no absolute privilege that immunizes trade secrets and similar confidential information from discovery. See Federal Open Market Committee v. Merrill, 443 U.S. 340, 362, 99 S.Ct. 2800, 2813, 61 L.Ed.2d 587 (1979); Centurion Industries, Inc. v. Warren Steurer and Associates, 665 F.2d 323, 325 (10th Cir.1981). In order to resist discovery of a trade secret, a party must first establish that the information sought is indeed a trade secret and then demonstrate that its disclosure might be harmful. Centurion, 665 F.2d at 325. Once these requirements are met, the burden shifts to the other party to establish that discovery of the trade secrets is relevant and necessary to the action. Id. The district court then must balance the need for protection of the trade secrets against the claim of injury resulting from disclosure. Id. Discovery should be denied if proof of relevancy or need is not established, but if relevancy and need are shown, the trade secret should be disclosed. Id. at 325-26. Determination of whether the need outweighs the harm of disclosure is within the sound discretion of the trial court. Id. at 326.

It is significant for purposes of deciding the pending motions that protection from disclosure of a trade secret or other confidential information may be obtained under Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c)(7), which empowers the court to issue protective orders. Such protective orders may issue “[u]pon motion by a party or by the person from whom discovery is sought____” In this case, Defendant has not moved for a protective order.

Although numerous discovery inquiries are encompassed within the pending motions, it is unnecessary to review them one by one. In fact, the Court is able to dismiss entirely one ground for objection to the discovery inquiries, protection of trade secrets or other confidential information, because Defendant has in all instances failed to meet its burden. First, Defendant has not established that any particular information sought qualifies as a trade secret and that its disclosure might be harmful. See Centurion, 665 F.2d at 325. Defendant has labeled much of the requested information as a trade secret or as “commercially sensitive,” but in no instance has Defendant explained how disclosure of such information would be harmful to its business interests. Second, the structure of Rule 26 demonstrates that the means by which protection from discovery of trade secrets is to be obtained is by motion under Rule 26(c)(7). As was noted above, no such motion has been filed. Accordingly, Defendant’s claim that the requested information constitutes trade secrets or confidential information must fail.

Defendant’s contention that certain of the information sought is irrelevant requires a closer review of the discovery requests. The information sought may be broken down into several categories for purposes of determining its relevancy.

[141]*141A number of the disputed discovery requests would yield information pertaining to Defendant’s involvement in interstate commerce. See interrogatories 8, 9, 12, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 34. Defendant •contends that such information is irrelevant because Defendant has admitted that it is involved in interstate commerce and has stipulated as to the existence of federal subject matter jurisdiction. Plaintiffs argue that information respecting Defendant’s activity in interstate commerce is also relevant to Plaintiffs’ claim that the alleged tying arrangement, which is at the center of this antitrust case, affects a “not insubstantial” amount of interstate commerce. That the degree of the effect upon interstate commerce of any alleged tying arrangement is relevant to Plaintiffs’ claim under the Sherman Act is made clear in Northern Pacific Railway Co. v. United States, 356 U.S. 1, 78 S.Ct. 514, 2 L.Ed.2d 545 (1958), where the Supreme Court stated that tying arrangements

are unreasonable in and of themselves when a party has sufficient economic power with respect to the tying product to appreciably restrain free competition in the market for the tied product and a “not insubstantial” amount of interstate commerce is affected.

Id. at 6, 78 S.Ct. at 518; see also, e.g., Fortner Enterprises, Inc. v. U.S. Steel Corp., 394 U.S. 495, 89 S.Ct. 1252, 22 L.Ed.2d 495 (1969). Unless Defendant has stipulated that a “not insubstantial” amount of interstate commerce is affected by its actions for purposes of a cause of action under the Sherman Act, Plaintiff’s attempts to obtain information regarding Defendant’s activities in interstate commerce are within the proper scope of discovery under Rule 26(b). The Court’s understanding is that there has been no such stipulation; therefore, Defendant must respond to the interrogatories.

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Bluebook (online)
105 F.R.D. 137, 1 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 258, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21854, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cutler-v-lewiston-daily-sun-med-1985.