Palantir Technologies Inc. v. Abramowitz

District Court, N.D. California·Decided November 7, 2022·No. 5:19-cv-06879·Unknown

Opinion

PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC., Case No. 19-cv-06879-BLF

Plaintiff, ORDER ON MOTIONS IN LIMINE v. [Re: ECF No. 356-63, 365, 366] Defendant.

In preparation for trial the Court held the Final Pretrial Conference in this case on October 13, 2022, during which the Court issued oral rulings on the parties’ motions in limine. See Motions, ECF Nos. 356-63, 365, 366. The Court’s rulings on the parties’ motions in limine are set forth as follows. A. Plaintiff’s Motion in Limine No. 1 to Exclude Evidence Regarding the i2 Litigation Palantir seeks to exclude evidence regarding i2, Inc. et al v. Palantir Technologies, Inc., No. 1:10-cv-0085-LO-JFA (E.D. Va.) (the “i2 Litigation”), in which i2 Inc. sued Palantir for, among other things, trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract. See Pl.’s MIL No. 1, at 1, ECF No. 361. Palantir argues that evidence or argument pertaining to the i2 Litigation should be excluded from trial under Federal Rule of Evidence 403 because it is irrelevant and will cause Palantir unfair prejudice. Id. at 1-3. Palantir contends that the litigation is irrelevant because it has no connection to Abramowitz or Palantir’s allegations against Abramowitz. Id. at 2. Palantir contends that the litigation would unduly prejudice Palantir because the jury may seek to punish Palantir by meriting unsubstantiated allegations against the company and would force Palantir to waste trial time rebutting the allegations in the i2 Litigation. Id. at 3. Abramowitz responds that evidence regarding the i2 Litigation is admissible under Rule 403. Def.’s Opp’n MIL 1, ECF No. 379. Abramowitz argues that the i2 Litigation is relevant because it implicates the credibility of Palantir’s Chief Operating Officer Shyam Sankar—a “critical witness in this case” who allegedly divulged to Abramowitz Palantir’s purported trade secrets concerning “Cyber Technology” during an in-person meeting in June 2014. Id. at 1-4. Abramowitz contends that settlement of the i2 Litigation is probative of bias in Sankar’s testimony because Palantir settled the matter on behalf of itself, Sankar, and Sankar’s father. Id. at 1-3. Abramowitz further argues that the evidence the of the litigation is probative of Sankar’s dishonesty because, at some point after the litigation, Sankar solicited Abramowitz for help getting his father a job without telling Abramowitz about the allegations against his father. Id. at 3. Abramowitz concedes that presenting evidence of the i2 Litigation at trial will prejudice Palantir but that such prejudice is not undue. Id. at 4. Abramowitz contends that the jury will not draw unfair inferences and Palantir will not have to spend time rebutting the allegations from the i2 Litigation because Sankar has already admitted the facts Abramowitz seeks to present. Id. at 4. The Court has considered the evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. The Court agrees with Abramowitz that aspects of the i2 Litigation, including Palantir’s settlement of the matter on his behalf, are probative of Mr. Sankar’s credibility and bias. The Court finds that, as to Mr. Sankar, evidence about the litigation is unlikely to lead to minitrials, as he has admitted the relevant conduct in deposition. See Def.’s Opp’n MIL 1, Ex. B, ECF No. 378-4. The Court also finds that any unfair prejudice that could arise from discussion of the i2 Litigation can be mitigated with a limiting instruction. Weighing these considerations, the Court finds that the relevance of certain aspects of the i2 Litigation to Mr. Sankar’s credibility and bias is not substantially outweighed by the danger unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, wasting time, or needlessly presenting cumulative evidence. See Fed. R. Evid. 403. Palantir’s motion is therefore DENIED, but the Court will allow a limiting instruction that information concerning the i2 Litigation may be used solely to assess Mr. Sankar’s bias or B. Plaintiff’s Motion in Limine No. 2 to Exclude Evidence Regarding Non- Operative Trade Secret Disclosures Palantir seeks to exclude evidence regarding non-operative trade secret disclosures under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. See Pl.’s MIL No. 2, ECF No. 362. Palantir argues that this evidence is not relevant. Id. at 3-5. Palantir also argues that its presentation will cause unfair prejudice because it will lead the jury to draw prejudicial inferences about Palantir’s reasons for submitting multiple trade secret disclosures and distract the jury from the relevant disclosures. Id. at 4-5. Abramowitz responds that the non-operative trade secret disclosures are relevant because they are probative of the integrity of Palantir’s claims. Def.’s Opp’n MIL No. 2, at 1, ECF No. 381. Abramowitz concedes that this evidence is prejudicial to Palantir but contends that any such prejudice is not unfair. Id. at 5. The Court has considered the evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. The Court finds that the superseded trade secret disclosures have little to no relevance. They are documents created for litigation to serve as a gateway to initiating discovery. See Cal. Code Civ. P. § 2019.210; see also Advanced Modular Sputtering, Inc. v. Superior Ct., 132 Cal. App. 4th 826, 833-34 (2005) (describing purposes of trade secret disclosures). Furthermore, they are not relevant to the credibility of any representation by Palantir that it owned the alleged trade secrets at the time of the alleged misappropriation, as the disclosures were created after any accused conduct. See BladeRoom Grp. Ltd. v. Facebook, Inc., No. 5:15-CV-01370-EJD, 2018 WL 1569703, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 30, 2018). The Court further finds that presentation of the superseded trade secret disclosures will waste time, as they will require extensive explanation as to why and how they were created and why they were later modified, and even with this explanation may confuse the jury. Weighing these considerations, the Court finds that any probative value of the non-operative trade secret disclosures is substantially outweighed by a danger of confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, and wasting time. Palantir’s motion is therefore GRANTED. C. Plaintiff’s Motion in Limine No. 3 to Exclude Evidence of Palantir’s Motive for Filing Lawsuit and Delaware Litigation LLC v. Palantir Technologies Inc., No. N17C-12-212 EMD CCLD (Del. Sup. Ct.) (the “Delaware Litigation”), a settled case in which Abramowitz sued Palantir. See Pl.’s MIL No. 3, ECF No. 363. Palantir argues that the evidence should be excluded under Federal Rules of Evidence 402 and 403. See id. at 1, 3, 5. Palantir argues that any such evidence is irrelevant, will force Palantir to spend time defending itself against the allegations in the Delaware Litigation, lead to jury confusion, and cause Palantir unfair prejudice. Id. at 3-5. Abramowitz responds that he seeks to present evidence related to the Delaware Litigation to show Palantir’s motive for bringing this litigation, to refute Palantir’s claim that it acted diligently to protect its intellectual property as required to prevail on a CUTSA claim, and to show witness bias. See Def.’s Opp’n MIL No. 3, at 1, ECF No. 384. Abramowitz argues that this evidence is relevant because it shows that Palantir declined to protect its purported trade secrets until after Abramowitz initiated the Delaware Litigation. Id. at 3. According to Abramowitz, t

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