Procter & Gamble Co. v. Nabisco Brands, Inc.

111 F.R.D. 326, 229 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 689, 5 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 551, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27706
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedMarch 25, 1986
DocketCiv. A. No. 84-333 LON
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 111 F.R.D. 326 (Procter & Gamble Co. v. Nabisco Brands, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Procter & Gamble Co. v. Nabisco Brands, Inc., 111 F.R.D. 326, 229 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 689, 5 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 551, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27706 (D. Del. 1986).

Opinion

LONGOBARDI, District Judge.

Plaintiff, The Procter & Gamble Company (“P & G”), has sued Nabisco Brands, Inc. (“Nabisco”), Keebler Company (“Keebler”) and Frito-Lay, Inc. (“Frito-Lay”) for patent infringement. Massive discovery has been undertaken by all parties and, of course, there has been the attendant problem of the protection of trade secrets and other confidential information. P & G and Keebler have stipulated to the entry of a protective order pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). The parties have agreed to discovery limitations on the use of an opponent’s proprietary information1 and a limited authorization to receive and view a producing party’s confidential communications.2 Under the protective order, a party imposes discovery restrictions on its documents by stamping on each page a [328]*328legend identifying the material as “Proprietary Information.”3

For purposes of the instant motion, the pertinent section of the protective order is paragraph 16. D.I. 97B, Exhibit 1, p. 13. Briefly, paragraph 16 contains the procedures to be employed by a party receiving documents stamped as “Proprietary Information” when it disagrees with the proprietary designation and wants to have the discovery restrictions lifted. In such a case, the receiving party may seek cancellation of the “Proprietary Information” designation with respect to any document it suspects is not proprietary by serving on the producing party a written request for the cancellation of the designation and providing reasons supporting its contention that the document is not subject to the protective order’s restrictions. The request becomes effective unless, within thirty days after receipt of the request, the producing party moves the Court for a protective order. The stipulation also provides that a hearing be held to decide whether a protective order should issue with respect to the documents under dispute. The producing party has the burden to establish the confidentiality of each contested document.4

Pursuant to the Order, P & G notified Keebler that it was requesting cancellation of Keebler’s Proprietary Information designation with respect to sixty-four5 documents. P & G maintained that the documents on their faces do not contain proprietary information of Keebler. D.I. 93, Exhibit A. P & G’s counsel also concluded from his inspection of the information in the documents that they were pertinent only to P & G and third parties.

Keebler responded that although the documents do not contain information about Keebler’s internal operations, the documents are proprietary because they “are Keebler’s internally generated photos and papers containing information gathered by Keebler about its competitors.” D.I. 93, p. 5. In other words, the documents which arguably disclose P & G’s internal processes and products, and were acquired through the use of “informants” and “sources”, are purportedly proprietary since the methods by which the information was acquired by Keebler constitutes Keebler’s trade secrets and confidential communications.

Keebler has attempted unsuccessfully to resolve the dispute over these documents without resort to a further protective order. Keebler proposed a partial lifting of the proprietary restrictions to allow P & G attorneys to use the documents during their examination of third-party witnesses who had a relationship to the information in the documents. This would provide P & G the ability to verify whether the information in the documents was acquired through the use of unfair competition. P & G has refused to accept this compromise but instead offered its own compromise, that upon its receipt of unrestricted access to the documents, it would not release the documents to the news media during the pendency of the suit. Keebler rejected that offer. Again, as seems to have become the usual course of dealing in this protracted patent litigation, the parties have been unable to resolve this discovery dispute and have left the job to the Court.

By asserting that the documents are “trade secrets”, the producing party has [329]*329impliedly invoked the provisions of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(7). The Court’s analysis of the dispute raises two questions: First, is the document sought to be protected “a trade secret or other confidential research, development or commercial information?” Zenith Radio Corp. v. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., 529 F.Supp. 866, 889 (E.D.Pa.1981). Second, has the party seeking protection shown “good cause” in that disclosure of the information would work a “clearly defined and serious injury?” Publicker Industries, Inc. v. Cohen, 733 F.2d 1059, 1071 (3d Cir.1984); Zenith Radio Corp., id. at 891.

A. Photographs and Drawings of P & G Facility

Of the total contested documents, a significant number clearly do not qualify as proprietary information and should not be cloaked by a protective order. These consist of photos taken on Keebler’s behalf of the Jackson, Tennessee P&G facility and various notes and drawings of the site. The photographs were taken in late 1983 while the facility was still under construction. Presumably, these photographs and other materials were taken with the hope of obtaining some insight into P & G’s intended processes to develop and manufacture its cookies.

The Court cannot conceive of any possible basis for Keebler’s contention that discovery of these photographs, notes and drawings should be restricted by use of a protective order. The photographs are simply pictures of the facility which were taken from the side of a highway. Hearing Transcript of September 27, 1985 (“Hearing Transcript”), p. 51. Keebler’s counsel admits that the “[pjhotograph itself means nothing.” Hearing Transcript, p. 51. Instead, Keebler views the very existence of the photographs as a trade secret because “[they do] show how and to what extent Keebler is successful or unsuccessful in obtaining information about Procter & Gamble.” Hearing Transcript, p. 51.

Keebler cannot meet its burden to show that the information contained within the photographs or even the method the company employed to obtain the photographs is a trade secret under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. First, the photographs do not contain proprietary or confidential information belonging to Keebler. Second, the photographs were obviously taken by an individual or individuals at a location off from the P&G property. Anyone walking or driving by the location would have seen the same sight. The fact that the event was recorded by Keebler on photographic film does not render the event any more significant.6

The same conclusion must be reached with respect to the drawings made by Keebler from its surreptieious inspection of the P&G facility and the notes recorded by the photographer or his/her associates. Again, the notes and drawings were derived from Keebler’s roadside inspection of the facility. They contain only Keebler’s speculation as to the possible functions of the various structures on the property.

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Bluebook (online)
111 F.R.D. 326, 229 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 689, 5 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 551, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27706, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/procter-gamble-co-v-nabisco-brands-inc-ded-1986.