Exxon Chemical Patents, Inc. v. Lubrizol Corp.

131 F.R.D. 668, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19941, 1990 WL 110065
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedAugust 1, 1990
DocketCiv. A. No. H-89-3203
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 131 F.R.D. 668 (Exxon Chemical Patents, Inc. v. Lubrizol Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Exxon Chemical Patents, Inc. v. Lubrizol Corp., 131 F.R.D. 668, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19941, 1990 WL 110065 (S.D. Tex. 1990).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CALVIN BOTLEY, United States Magistrate.

Pending before the Court is Exxon’s Motion to Strike Lubrizol’s Objections to Plaintiff’s Rule 30(b)(6) Deposition (# 53), Exxon’s Motion for Protective Order (# 58), Exxon’s Motion to Compel Lubrizol to Provide Complete Testimony on the Relationship With Castrol and Witco (# 66), Exxon Chemical Patents Unopposed Motion to Amend Protective Order (#71), Lubrizol’s Motion to Compel Exxon to Answer Interrogatories and Produce Documents (#73), Lubrizol’s Motion to Compel Exxon to Exchange Withheld Document Schedules (#75), Lubrizol’s Motion to Compel Completion of Deposition of Dr. Terence Colclough and Frederick A. Gibson (# 77), Lubrizol’s Motion to Compel the Deposition of Dr. Keith Ingold, or In The Alternative, to Exclude (# 79), Motion for Protection by a Non-Party Witness (#97), Exxon’s First Motion to Compel Production of Documents and to Prohibit Obstructive Conduct During Depositions (# 112), Lubrizol’s Motion for Protective Order Relating to the Deposition of Dr. Stanley Brois (# 113), and Lubrizol’s Motion to Compel Response to Third Set of Interrogatories (# 114). After hearing the arguments of the parties and considering the applicable law, it is ORDERED:

1. Exxon’s Motion to Strike Lubrizol’s Objections to Plaintiff’s Rule 30(b)(6) Depositions (# 53) is moot. The parties advised the court that Stephen Kirk appeared for his deposition pursuant to the deposition notice, thus judicial intervention is not warranted.

[670]*6702. Exxon’s Motion for a Protective Order (#58) is RESERVED pending the submission of an affidavit supporting its work product privilege. Lubrizol seeks discovery of the factual basis for Exxon’s complaint contending that it is essential to refute the infringement charges against it. Exxon claims that the facts on which the requested analyses is based constitutes work product. Documents and materials developed by a lawyer for use in or in anticipation of litigation can be protected under the work product privilege. Hodges, Grant & Kaufman v. United States Department of Treasury, 768 F.2d. 719 (5th Cir.1985). The work product doctrine applies to documents and tangible things prepared in anticipation of litigation by or for another party, or by or for that party’s lawyer or other representative, as well as to an attorney’s mental impressions, conclusions, opinions, or legal theories. In re International Systems and Controls Corporation Securities Litigation, 91 F.R.D. 552 (S.D.Tex.1981). The party asserting the privilege has the burden of showing that the materials sought constitute work product. To establish that the doctrine applies, the party opposing discovery must show that the work product it seeks to protect was prepared and obtained because of the prospect of litigation. Delco Wire and Cable, Inc. v. Weinberger, 109 F.R.D. 680 (E.D.Pa.1986). Litigation need not necessarily be imminent to protect documents prepared by attorneys in anticipation thereof to be within the work product doctrine, as long as the primary motivating purpose behind creation of the document was to aid in possible future litigation. United States v. Orr, 645 F.2d. 71 (5th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 862, 102 S.Ct. 320, 70 L.Ed.2d 162 (1981). Courts must distinguish between reports prepared in response to an unfortunate event that might well lead to litigation, and materials prepared as an aid to litigation. The work product doctrine is not an umbrella that shades all materials prepared by the lawyer, the doctrine focuses on material assembled and brought into being in anticipation of litigation. United States v. El Paso Co., 682 F.2d. 530 (5th Cir.1982), reh’g denied, 688 F.2d. 840 (1982), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 944, 104 S.Ct. 1927, 80 L.Ed.2d 473 (1983). If the materials are assembled in ordinary course of business or pursuant to public requirements unrelated to litigation, the documents are not shielded by the work product privilege. Id. It is therefore

ORDERED that Exxon shall file within fifteen (15) days from entry of this Order a list of privileged documents and an affidavit setting forth the reasons why the documents are privileged. If the information is work product, Plaintiff must demonstrate that the materials were prepared in anticipation of litigation. See generally, Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 67 S.Ct. 385, 91 L.Ed. 451 (1947). If the materials are not work product, they must be tendered to opposing counsel.

3. Exxon’s Motion to Compel Lubrizol to Provide Complete Testimony on the Relationship with Castrol and Witco (# 66) is GRANTED. Exxon noticed the Rule 30(b)(6) depositions of a person to testify about the relationship between Lubrizol and Witco and a person qualified to testify about the relationship between Lubrizol and Castrol. Lubrizol designated Stephen Kirk to testify in response to both notices. During the deposition, he was instructed not to answer any of Exxon’s questions about the identity of Lubrizol products not actually sold to either Witco or Castrol, including products which are being tested and evaluated for Witco or Castrol with sales as the goal. Exxon moves for an order compelling Lubrizol to testify about the relationship with Witco and Castrol contending that this information is relevant in determining the extent of Lubrizol’s infringing activities. Further, Exxon contends that the testing programs may infringe the patent and are not protected by the experimental use exception because such experiments evidence commercial success and thus are relevant to the validity and value of the patent use.

Lubrizol contends that the information Exxon seeks is highly confidential research and experimental work with formulations which may or may not ever evolve into commercial products. Lubrizol con[671]*671tends that its current research is much too sensitive and irrelevant to release under even the strictest of protective orders. Further, this information is not relevant in determining any alleged infringement because the research is an experimental use which cannot constitute infringement of the patent.

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 271(a), which provides in pertinent part:

Whoever without authority makes, uses or sells any patented invention within the United States during the term of patent therefor infringes the patent.

Section 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(1) provides:

It shall not be an act of infringement to make, use, or sell a patented invention (other than a new animal drug or veterinary biological product (as those terms are used in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Act of March 4, 1913), which is primarily manufactured using recombinant RNA, hybridoma technology, or other processes involving site specific genetic manipulation techniques) solely for uses reasonably related to the development and submission of information under a Federal law which regulates the manufacture, use, or sale of drugs or veterinary biological products.

The experimental use exception of 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(1) applies if the sole purpose of the use of the patent is to gratify a philosphical idea, or curiosity, or for mere amusement. Poppenhusen v.

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Bluebook (online)
131 F.R.D. 668, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19941, 1990 WL 110065, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/exxon-chemical-patents-inc-v-lubrizol-corp-txsd-1990.