Omnitracs, LLC v. Platform Science, Inc.

District Court, S.D. California·Decided March 24, 2023·No. 3:20-cv-00958·Unknown

Opinion

OMNITRACS, LLC and XRS Case No.: 20-cv-958-CAB-DDL CORPORATION, ORDER GRANTING IN PART Plaintiffs, DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR v. ISSUANCE OF LETTER ROGATORY PLATFORM SCIENCE, INC., Defendant. [Dkt. No. 279]

Before the Court is Defendant Platform Science, Inc.’s (“Defendant”) unopposed Motion for Issuance of Letters Rogatory to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for Colin D. Warkentin (the “Motion”). Dkt. No. 279. The Court held a hearing on the Motion on March 22, 2023, at which counsel for Plaintiffs Omnitracs, LLC and XRS Corporation (“Plaintiffs”) and Defendant appeared. The Court has considered the moving papers, the applicable law, and the arguments of counsel. For the reasons stated below and at the hearing, the Motion is GRANTED IN PART. Defendant seeks documents and testimony from Colin D. Warkentin, who is the first named inventor on two of the patents-in-suit (the ‘568 and ‘575 patents) and a former employee of XRS Corporation. Dkt. No. 279 at 4. According to Defendant, Mr. Warkentin possesses unique knowledge regarding the conception and reduction to practice regarding the ‘568 and ‘575 patents. Id. at 4-5, 11. Defendant further asserts that Mr. Warkentin is uniquely knowledgeable about the “key prior art products” that were developed by XRS Corporation during his employment there. Id. at 11. Defendant also seek any documents that Mr. Warkentin has in his possession, custody and control related to the development of these products. Plaintiffs do not oppose the Motion and indeed have identified Mr. Warkentin as a witness with relevant knowledge in their Rule 26 disclosures. See Dkt. No. 279-9 at 9. Defendants have tried to contact Mr. Warkentin to solicit his voluntary cooperation with their discovery efforts, but to no avail. Dkt. No. 279 at 9. “A letter rogatory is ‘a formal written request sent by a court to a foreign court’ for the purpose of obtaining evidence, including depositions and documents, in a pending action.” Scalia v. Int’l Longshore & Warehouse Union, 337 F.R.D. 281, 287 (N.D. Cal. 2020) (citation omitted). The issuance of such a request is within the Court’s inherent powers and is also implicitly authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 1781. See Asis Internet Servs. v. Optin Global, Inc., No. C-05-05124 JCS, 2007 WL 1880369, at *3 (N.D. Cal. June 29, 2007); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 28(b)(1)(B) (providing for the taking of foreign depositions by means of a letter rogatory). Whether to do so is a matter of the Court’s discretion. Scalia, 337 F.R.D. at 288. As with any other discovery request, discovery sought by means of a letter rogatory must be within the scope of discovery defined by Rule 26(b). See id. Defendant has provided the Court with its proposed letter rogatory setting forth the requested discovery, which consists of 11 document requests and 13 topics for examination at deposition. See Dkt. No. 279-1. Having reviewed Defendant’s Motion and considered the information provided by counsel at the March 22 hearing, the Court finds that the deposition testimony and documents sought by Defendant are within the scope of Rule 26(b) with the exception of proposed deposition topic number 13. Therefore, and for good cause shown, Defendant’s Motion is GRANTED IN PART. The Court hereby authorizes a request for discovery from Colin D. Warkentin consistent with the terms of this Order and as reflected in the attached Letter Rogatory. It shall be the responsibility of the parties to deliver the Letter | || Rogatory to the appropriate authorities in Canada. A signed copy of the Letter Rogatory bearing the Court’s seal is available to be picked up from the Clerk of the Court, whose address and business hours are available on the Court’s website. Dated: March 24, 2023 That! bahar. ; Ge □□ United States Magistrate Judge. am □□ □

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Related

Writs
28 U.S.C. § 1651