IceMOS Technology Corporation v. Omron Corporation

District Court, D. Arizona·Decided March 6, 2020·No. 2:17-cv-02575·Unknown

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5

9 IceMOS Technology Corporation, No. CV-17-02575-PHX-JAT

10 Plaintiff, ORDER

11 v.

12 Omron Corporation,

13 Defendant. 14 15 Pending before the Court are IceMOS Technology Corporation’s (“Plaintiff”) 16 motions in limine (Docs. 399, 400, 401, 402, 403, 406, 407, 410, 411, 412) and Omron 17 Corporation’s (“Defendant”) motions in limine (Docs. 413, 416, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 18 424). The parties have also filed motions to seal in connection with the motions in limine. 19 (Docs. 404, 408, 414, 417, 425, 429, 443, 446, 449, 452). The Court now rules on the 20 motions. 21 a. Plaintiff’s Motions in Limine 22 1. Plaintiff’s First Motion in Limine (Doc. 399) 23 Plaintiff first seeks to exclude two of Defendant’s witnesses: Yoshio Sekiguchi and 24 Yoshitake Ito. (Doc. 399). Plaintiff argues that these witnesses’ failure to appear for 25 deposition warrants exclusion. (Id.). Defendant counters that Plaintiff did not exercise 26 reasonable diligence in seeking their appearance. (Doc. 432 at 3–4). 27 Plaintiff sent a notice of deposition to Defendant’s counsel for Sekiguchi and Ito 28 because Defendant listed counsel’s address for their contact information as part of its initial 1 disclosure. (Doc. 399 at 2; Doc. 399-2). Defendant argues that it could not make Sekiguchi 2 and Ito available for deposition because they are no longer employed by Defendant. 3 (Doc. 432 at 2). 4 The “district court is vested with ‘broad discretion to make discovery and 5 evidentiary rulings conducive to the conduct of a fair and orderly trial.’” Amarel v. Connell, 6 102 F.3d 1494, 1515 (9th Cir. 1996) (quoting Campbell Indus. v. M/V Gemini, 619 F.2d 7 24, 27 (9th Cir. 1980)). A witness may be excluded where that witness’s testimony “would 8 unfairly prejudice an opposing party.” See Campbell Indus., 619 F.2d at 27 (citation 9 omitted); Macoviak v. Provident Life & Acc. Ins., No. 03CV1927 BEN (JFS), 2005 WL 10 5994162, at *1–2 (S.D. Cal. Mar. 21, 2005). The Court finds that allowing Sekiguchi and 11 Ito to testify for Defendant despite their failure to appear for Plaintiff’s noticed deposition 12 would be unfairly prejudicial to Plaintiff. 13 On the other hand, Defendant requests that the Court rule that it will not give an 14 adverse inference instruction if Sekiguchi and Ito do not testify. (Doc. 413 at 5–6). Plaintiff 15 opposes that request because it claims it is Defendant who “controll[ed] access to the 16 witnesses and who refused to make them available.” (Doc. 445 at 6). 17 The Court has determined that the following is the most appropriate path forward. 18 Plaintiff can decide whether it wants to exclude Sekiguchi and Ito; however, if it chooses 19 to exclude the witnesses, then Plaintiff cannot seek an adverse inference instruction for 20 their absence at trial. If Plaintiff chooses not to exclude Sekiguchi and Ito, and they fail to 21 appear at trial, Plaintiff can seek an adverse inference instruction at trial after their failure 22 to appear. 23 Plaintiff must notify the Court of its choice at the Final Pretrial Conference, 24 scheduled for March 18, 2020, at 2:30 p.m. If Plaintiff does not clearly advise the Court of 25 its decision, then the motion to exclude Sekiguchi and Ito (Doc. 399) will be deemed 26 withdrawn. 27 28 1 2. Plaintiff’s Second Motion in Limine (Doc. 400) 2 Plaintiff’s next motion in limine requests that the Court exclude any evidence of 3 settlement negotiations. (Doc. 400). The Court denies the motion (Doc. 400), without 4 prejudice, as a request for an advanced evidentiary ruling. (Doc. 39 at 5–7). Plaintiff can 5 raise an appropriate objection at trial if Defendant offers evidence in violation of Federal 6 Rule of Evidence 408. 7 3. Plaintiff’s Third Motion in Limine (Doc. 401) 8 Plaintiff asks the Court to preclude Defendant 9 from presenting arguments or testimony relating to any Japanese documents for which it has not produced a certified English translation within a 10 reasonable time before trial and any evidence or testimony challenging 11 (1) any certified translation of a Japanese document, where no objection or proposed corrected translation was timely disclosed or (2) any deposition 12 translation, where such challenge was not made either contemporaneously 13 during the deposition through a check interpreter or after when the witness was granted the opportunity to read and sign the deposition transcript. 14 15 (Doc. 401 at 2). The Court has made clear that it will not grant relief through a motion in 16 limine that does not identify specific statements or evidence that would “ring the bell that 17 cannot be unrung.” (See Doc. 39 at 5–7); see also PCT Int’l Inc. v. Holland Elecs. LLC, 18 No. CV-12-01797, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24730, at *38 (D. Ariz. Mar. 2, 2015). However, 19 Plaintiff may raise an appropriate objection at trial if Defendant offers an improper 20 translation. The motion (Doc. 401) is therefore denied without prejudice. 21 4. Plaintiff’s Fourth Motion in Limine (Doc. 402) 22 Plaintiff requests that the Court exclude any evidence or testimony that supports 23 Defendant’s assertion that Defendant “terminated the Supply Agreement on March 6, 24 2015.” (Doc. 402 at 2). This motion in limine is a belated motion for partial summary 25 judgment. (See Doc. 39 at 6–7). Moreover, Plaintiff has not described what exact evidence 26 or testimony it wants to be excluded. The Court will not issue a blanket exclusion against 27 all evidence on a particular issue. (Id. at 5–7); see also Classical Silk, Inc. v. Dolan Grp., 28 1 Inc., No. CV1409224ABMRWX, 2016 WL 7638112, at *6 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 21, 2016). The 2 motion (Doc. 402) is denied. 3 5. Plaintiff’s Fifth Motion in Limine (Doc. 403) 4 Plaintiff asks the Court to exclude any evidence of fraud where that evidence is “not 5 supported by [Defendant]’s pleadings.” (Doc. 403 at 2). Plaintiff’s motion is either an 6 untimely motion for judgment on the pleadings or an untimely motion for partial summary 7 judgment. As stated previously, the Court will not consider either motion at this late stage 8 of litigation. (Doc. 39 at 6–7). Additionally, Plaintiff has not identified any specific 9 evidence or testimony in its motion that would “ring the bell that cannot be unrung.” (See 10 id. at 5–7); see also PCT Int’l Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24730, at *38. The motion 11 (Doc. 403) is denied. 12 6. Plaintiff’s Sixth Motion in Limine (Doc. 406) 13 Plaintiff moves for the Court to “exclud[e] evidence regarding any lost profits 14 [Defendant] allegedly suffered based on [Plaintiff] not purchasing the amount of 15 SJMOSFET wafers forecasted in Exhibit A of the Supply Agreement.” (Doc. 406 at 2). 16 Plaintiff reasons that, “to the extent the Court’s holding that lost profits are too speculative 17 for [Plaintiff] to recover stands, such holding must apply equally and for the same reasons 18 to [Defendant]’s claim for lost profits.” (Id.). More specifically, Plaintiff asserts that 19 Defendant “should not be allowed to present a damages theory for its fraud claim (lost 20 profits) that the Court has already decided is too speculative for IceMOS to submit.” (Id. 21 at 5). Plaintiff also claims that Defendant did not properly disclose its lost profits theory. 22 (Id.). The Court denies the motion (Doc. 406). 23 First, Plaintiff’s motion is clearly a belated partial summary judgment motion. 24 Plaintiff could have moved for partial summary judgment on Defendant’s lost profits claim 25 just as Defendant did as to Plaintiff’s lost profits claim. It chose not to, and it cannot seek 26 partial summary judgment at this late stage on this issue. (Doc. 39 at 6–7). 27 Second, the underlying premise of Plaintiff’s motion (Doc. 406) is flawed.

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