Ed Tobergte Associates Co. v. Russell Brands, LLC

259 F.R.D. 550, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66914, 2009 WL 2406257
CourtDistrict Court, D. Kansas
DecidedAugust 3, 2009
DocketCivil Action No. 08-2290-JWL-GLR
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 259 F.R.D. 550 (Ed Tobergte Associates Co. v. Russell Brands, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ed Tobergte Associates Co. v. Russell Brands, LLC, 259 F.R.D. 550, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66914, 2009 WL 2406257 (D. Kan. 2009).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

GERALD L. RUSHFELT, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiff Ed Tobergte Associates d/b/a Gear 2000 brings this action for patent infringement and false advertising under the Lanham Act. Plaintiff alleges that football shoulder pads sold by Defendant Russell Brands, LLC, through its division Bike Athletics, infringed upon its patent. This matter comes before the Court upon two motions: (1) the Motion to Quash (doc. 43), filed by Plaintiffs counsel, Ginnie Derusseau; and (2) Motion to Compel Production of Documents (doc. 49), filed by Defendant. Counsel for Plaintiff requests in her motion that the Court, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 45(c)(3), quash the subpoenas served upon her on April 2, 2009, and enter an order to prohibit Defendant from deposing her. Defendant has filed, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(a), its motion to compel Ms. Derusseau to produce documents in compliance with the subpoena to produce documents.

[553]*553I. Background Facts

Plaintiff designs, manufactures, markets, and sells football shoulder pads, among other products. On January 30, 2007, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USP-TO”) issued U.S. Patent No. 7,168,104 (“'104 Patent”) entitled “Football Shoulder Pads” to Edward H. Tobergte. All right, title and interest in and to the '104 Patent has been assigned to Plaintiff, who is the sole owner of the '104 Patent. Ginnie Derusseau is counsel of record for Plaintiff in the present litigation. She also acted as patent counsel for Plaintiff with regard to the preparation and prosecution of the '104 Patent. She also prosecuted another patent application on football pads for inventor Ed Tobergte under U.S. patent application number 11/059,769 (“Parallel Application”).

In the present action Plaintiff alleges that football shoulder pads sold by Defendant infringe upon its '104 Patent. Defendant has raised as one of its defenses that the '104 Patent is unenforceable, due to inequitable conduct before the USPTO. Defendant alleges specifically that Ms. Derusseau, as the attorney who prepared and prosecuted the patent, engaged in inequitable conduct by knowingly failing to disclose certain prior art references to the USPTO during prosecution of the '104 Patent.

On April 2, 2009, Defendant served two subpoenas on Ms. Derusseau. The Subpoena to Produce Documents commanded her to produce documents responsive to eleven requests for production. The Subpoena to Testify at a Deposition set her deposition for April 28, 2009. Defendant had previously served sets of subpoenas on Ms. Derusseau on March 6, March 10, and March 25, but each time Ms. Derusseau objected on grounds of deficiency of service. On April 13, 2009, Ms. Derusseau filed the instant Motion to Quash. She served her objections to the subpoena on Defendant on April 15, 2009.1 Defendant thereafter filed its Motion to Compel Production of Documents sought in the subpoena on May 5, 2009.

II. Motion to Quash Subpoena Served on Plaintiffs Counsel

As counsel for Plaintiff, Ms. Derusseau moves, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 45(c)(3) and D. Kan. Rules 37.1 and 37.2, to quash the subpoena served upon her to testify at deposition. She argues that Defendant has failed to meet the prerequisite conditions for such deposition. She contends this Court has required that the party seeking the deposition of an opposing attorney of record to show that no other means exist to obtain the information, except to depose counsel, the information sought is relevant and non-privileged, and that the information is crucial to the preparation of the case. Defendant argues that the motion to quash should be denied because the initial disclosures of Plaintiff identified Ms. Derusseau as a fact witness with discoverable knowledge, that her testimony is highly relevant to the defense of inequitable conduct, and that she has failed to show good cause why her deposition should not proceed. Defendant also asserts that, if the Court considers Shelton criteria in deciding the motion to quash, each of the three criteria have been satisfied.

A. Applicable Legal Standard for Ruling on a Motion to Quash Subpoena

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(c)(3) provides that a court shall quash or modify a subpoena if it requires disclosure of privileged information or subjects a person to undue burden.2 A district court may also limit the frequency or extent of discovery otherwise allowed if “the discovery sought is unreasonably cumulative or duplicative, or can be obtained from some other source that is more convenient, less burdensome, or less expensive; [or] the party seeking discovery has had ample opportunity to obtain the information by discovery in the aetion[ ].”3

The law of the regional circuit, not the Federal Circuit, applies to procedural issues that are not unique to patent law.4

[554]*554The Federal Circuit has held that a motion to quash a subpoena generally does not involve issues unique to patent law, and therefore regional law governs such motions.5 The Court will therefore apply the law of the Tenth Circuit in deciding the motion to quash and corresponding motion to compel production of documents.

B. Depositions of Opposing Counsel

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not prohibit the deposition of an attorney for a party.6 This Court, however, has recognized the potential for abuse in deposing an opponent’s attorney by inviting “delay, disruption of the case, harassment, and unnecessary distractions into collateral matters.”7 In Shelton v. American Motors Corp., the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals indicated its view that the increasing practice of taking the deposition of opposing counsel was a negative development, and one that should be employed only in limited circumstances.8 While expressly stating that it was not holding that trial counsel should be absolutely immune from being deposed, the Shelton court set forth the limited circumstances where the court should permit the deposition of opposing trial counsel.9 Specifically, those circumstances should be limited to where the party seeking to take the deposition has shown that: “(1) no other means exist to obtain the information except to depose opposing counsel; (2) the information sought is relevant and nonprivileged; and (3) the information is crucial to the preparation of the ease.”10 The Shelton court set forth the following rationale for its decision to restrict the circumstances under which opposing counsel may be deposed:

Taking the deposition of opposing counsel not only disrupts the adversarial system and lowers the standards of the profession, but it also adds to the already burdensome time and costs of litigation.

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Bluebook (online)
259 F.R.D. 550, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66914, 2009 WL 2406257, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ed-tobergte-associates-co-v-russell-brands-llc-ksd-2009.