Synopsys, Inc. v. ATopTech, Inc.

319 F.R.D. 293, 96 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 322, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159568, 2016 WL 6782028
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedNovember 16, 2016
DocketCase No. 13-cv-02965-MMC(DMR)
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 319 F.R.D. 293 (Synopsys, Inc. v. ATopTech, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Synopsys, Inc. v. ATopTech, Inc., 319 F.R.D. 293, 96 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 322, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159568, 2016 WL 6782028 (N.D. Cal. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER ON JOINT DISCOVERY LETTER

Donna M. Ryu, United States Magistrate Judge

Plaintiff Synopsys, Inc. (“Synopsys”) and Defendant ATopTech, Inc. (“ATopTech”) filed a joint discovery letter in which Sy-nopsys moves to compel ATopTech to respond to interrogatories. [Docket No. 811 (Joint Letter) ]. ATopTech argues that it already answered Synopsys’s Set One, Interrogatory Nos. 1-5, which contains at least 21 discrete subparts. As such, ATopTech contends that it is not required to respond to any of the interrogatories in Set Two, Interrogatory Nos. 6-25, because the Set Two interrogatories also contain discrete subparts, and even responding to Interrogatory No. 6 would require ATopTech to exceed the 25 interrogatory limit under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33(a)(1). [Docket No. 811 (Joint Letter) ]. The court finds that this matter is appropriate for resolution without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule Y—1(b). Having considered the parties’ arguments and for the reasons set forth below, Synopsys’ motion to compel is GRANTED.

I. DISCUSSION

A. General Legal Standards

“Unless otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court, a party may serve on any other party no more than 25 written interrogatories, including all discrete subparts. Leave to serve additional interrogatories may be granted to the extent consistent with Rule 26(b)(2).” Fed. R. Civ. P. 33(a)(1). Athough the rule does not define the term “discrete subparts,” courts have construed it to mean that “interrogatory subparts are to be counted as one interrogatory ... if they are logically or factually subsumed within and necessarily related to the primary question.” Safeco of Am. v. Rawstron, 181 F.R.D. 441, 445 (C.D. Cal. 1998) (citation omitted); see also 8A Charles A. Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Richard L. Marcus, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2168.1, at 39-40 (3d ed. 2010) (“it would appear that an interrogatory containing subparts directed at eliciting details concerning a common theme should be considered a single question, although the breadth of the area inquired about may be disputable. On the other hand, an interrogatory with subparts inquiring into discrete areas is likely to be counted as more than one for purposes of the limitation.”).

When served with interrogatories, the responding party must serve its answers and any objections within 30 days. Fed. R. Civ. P. 33(b)(2). “Each interrogatory must, to the extent it is not objected to, be answered separately and fully in writing under oath.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 33(b)(3).

B, Analysis

1. Interrogatories Related to Accused Products and Patents-in-Suit

Patent eases present unique challenges with respect to the application of Rule 33’s numerical limit on interrogatories. A circuit judge for the Federal Circuit, sitting as the district court in a patent case, recently devoted an entire opinion to the issue of what constitutes a “discrete subpart” for purposes of Rule 33(a)(1). See Erfindergemeinschaft Uropep GbR v. Eli Lilly & Co., 315 F.R.D. 191 (E.D. Tex. 2016). In Erfindergemeins-chafb Uropep GbR, the alleged infringer moved for a protective order striking the patentee’s interrogatories, on the ground that the patentee exceeded the 25 interrogatory limit under Rule 33 since several of the interrogatories contained multiple discrete subparts. Id. at 194.

After conducting an exhaustive survey of district court cases around the country grappling with this problem, Circuit Judge William C. Bryson adopted the general approach [295]*295outlined in Safeco, but included pragmatic considerations such as whether the particular interrogatory “threaten[ed] the purpose of Rule S3” by combining into one interrogatory what should be separate interrogatories. Id. at 194-97. But, even after settling on this modified approach, Circuit Judge Bryson stressed that what constitutes a discrete sub-part is often a case-specific inquiry:

It is important to acknowledge at the outset that the issue of ‘discreteness’ cannot reliably be captured by a verbal formula, and that ultimately the issue turns on a case-by-case assessment of the degree to which the subpart is logically related to the primary question in the interrogatory, as opposed to being separate and distinct .... Th[e court’s approach] acknowledges that the issue of ‘discreteness’ often cannot be resolved by resort to a crisp verbal formula; it recognizes the reality that ‘discreteness’ is a matter of degree and that deciding whether a subpart of an interrogatory is sufficiently ‘discrete’ to be regarded as a separate interrogatory will frequently depend on the particular circumstances of each case and may not always be answerable with complete confidence.

Id. at 197.

This court agrees that the task of counting interrogatories requires a case-specific assessment. However, at least two recurring issues in patent cases have resulted in helpful principles. The first arises when one interrogatory asks a series of subpart questions about “all accused products.” Where a case involves multiple accused products, courts generally have concluded that a single interrogatory seeking information about all accused products contains at least as many discrete subparts as there are accused products at issue, and potentially more depending on what information is sought about each accused product.

For example, Collaboration Props., Inc. v. Polycom, Inc., 224 F.R.D. 473, 475 (N.D. Cal. 2004), involved 26 accused products. The alleged infringer argued that each interrogatory that asked about all of the accused products should be construed as comprising 26 discrete subparts. Id. The district court agreed, reasoning that a “party [could not] avoid the numerical limits by asking questions about distinct subjects, but numbering the questions as subparts.” Id. (emphasis in case) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

In Rambus Inc. v. NVIDIA Corp., Nos. C-08-03443 SI and C-08-05500 SI, 2011 WL 11746749, at *14 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 24, 2011), the dispute involved over 300 accused products and 15 patents-in-suit. The district court denied the patentee’s motion to compel further responses to interrogatories which each sought information about either all of the accused products and/or all of the patents-in-suit. Id. It held, among other things, that “[a]n interrogatory that seeks information (even a single piece of information) about 300 separate products is asking 300 separate questions.” Id.

A district court in the Central District of California similarly concluded that interrogatories “seeking facts related to separate patents or separate accused products seek information concerning distinct subjects, and, therefore, constitute separate interrogatories.” Stamps.Com, Inc. v. Endicia, Inc., PSI Sys. Inc., No. CV 06-7499-ODW (CTx), 2009 WL 2576371, at *3 (C.D. Cal. May 21, 2009). Stamps.com involved 5 accused products and 11 patents. Id.

This case involves a single accused product: Aprisa/Apogee.

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319 F.R.D. 293, 96 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 322, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 159568, 2016 WL 6782028, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/synopsys-inc-v-atoptech-inc-cand-2016.