Tequila Centinela, S.A. de C.V. v. Bacardi & Co.

242 F.R.D. 1, 68 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 27, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22887, 2007 WL 1020785
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedMarch 29, 2007
DocketCivil Action No. 04-02201(RCL)
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 242 F.R.D. 1 (Tequila Centinela, S.A. de C.V. v. Bacardi & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tequila Centinela, S.A. de C.V. v. Bacardi & Co., 242 F.R.D. 1, 68 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 27, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22887, 2007 WL 1020785 (D.D.C. 2007).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

LAMBERTH, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on the plaintiffs Motion [14] to Compel Discovery and Motion [15] to Amend the Scheduling Order and Discovery Plan. Upon consideration of the plaintiffs motions, the defendant’s opposition [18] thereto, the plaintiffs reply [20] brief, the applicable law, and the entire record herein, the Court concludes that the plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel will be GRANTED in part and DENIED in part and the plaintiffs Motion to Amend will be GRANTED. The Court’s reasoning is set forth below.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff, Tequila Centinela, S.A. de C.V., (Centinela) comes before this Court seeking to compel discovery from Bacardi & Company Limited (Bacardi) on a number of matters. The present case before the Court involves the review of the March 5, 2003, February 24, 2004, and October 19, 2004, Decisions and Orders of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to the extent they were adverse to Centinela. (PI. Mot. Compel 2.) Centinela is seeking review of the TTAB’s: Denial of Centinela’s motion to amend its application for the CABRITO & GOAT Design to revise the dates of first use and to narrow the identification of goods therein; denial of Centinela’s motion for summary judgment that there was no likelihood of confusion or dilution between Cen-tinela’s CABRITO & GOAT Design and the CAZADORES mark alleged to be owned by Bacardi; granting Bacardi’s motions to joint as a party plaintiff and amend the Notice of Opposition; and finding that Bacardi had standing to bring and maintain the Opposition. (Id.) By separate order this date, this Court ruled on Bacardi’s partial motion to dismiss, finding that as a matter of law, this [4]*4Court had the subject matter jurisdiction to review all of the rulings of the TTAB except for the TTAB’s denial of Centinela’s motion for summary judgment. Centinela comes before this Court asking it to compel Bacardi to perform a number of actions and to extend the period of discovery.

DISCUSSION

The parties appear to have conferred and met the requirements set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f) and Local Rule 16.3, thus the Court is able to reach a decision on the merits of the motion. The court explains its grounds for granting or denying the motion to compel on each issue in the following sections.

I. The Motion to Compel Bacardi to Execute the Parties’ Stipulated Protective Order.

Centinela asks this Court to direct Bacardi to immediately return a signed copy of the Stipulated Protective Order, which Centinela will then “promptly” file with the court. (Pl. Mot. Compel 5-6.) Bacardi claims that it is fully prepared to execute the Stipulated Protective Order upon the signing of the order by an officer of Centinela who has the power to bind Centinela to the agreement. (Def. Opp’n Mot. 4.) Centinela claims that it has already done so. (PL Reply 3.) Unfortunately, this Court does not have the power to compel a party to sign a Stipulated Protective Order. A stipulation is defined as “a voluntary agreement between opposing parties concerning some relevant point.” Black’s Law Dictionary 1427 (Deluxe 7th Edition 1999) (referring to the second listed definition of the word stipulation). Since a stipulation is “voluntary,” this Court cannot compel a party to voluntarily do something. See Id.

The proper relief this Court could grant would be to issue a Protective Order. Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c). To grant a protective order, a party would have to show good cause as to why the court should grant such an order. See Id. To show good cause, the movant must articulate specific facts to support its request and cannot rely on speculative or eonclusory statements. Friends of the Earth v. U.S. Dep’t. of Interior, 236 F.R.D. 39, 41 (D.D.C.2006) (quoting Low v. Whitman, 207 F.R.D. 9, 10-11 (D.D.C.2002)). District courts, in “assessing the existence of good cause, must exercise their discretion in light of the relevant facts and circumstances of a particular case.” Id. (quoting Nixon v. Warner Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 599, 98 S.Ct. 1306, 55 L.Ed.2d 570 (1978)). In deciding whether or not to grant a protective order, courts typically weigh the burdensomeness to the moving party against the need for, and the relevance of, the information being sought. Flanagan v. Wyndham Int'l. Inc., 231 F.R.D. 98, 102 (D.D.C.2005) (citing See Farnsworth v. Procter & Gamble Co., 758 F.2d 1545, 1547, (11th Cir.1985)); Insulate Am. v. Masco Corp., 227 F.R.D. 427, 432 (W.D.N.C.2005); Wyoming v. U.S. Dep’t. of Agric., 208 F.R.D. 449, 452-53 (D.D.C.2002); Alexander v. F.B.I., 186 F.R.D. 71, 75 (D.D.C.1998). Reading the three motions and the attached exhibits as a motion for issuing a protective order, this Court could not find what could amount to a claim of harm that would be suffered by either side, should the protective order not be granted. See Flanagan, 231 F.R.D. at 105. In particular, upon reading the parties proposed stipulated protective order, the Court would need to speculate to determine what general harm may occur if the alleged “confidential material” became public. (See Pl. Mot. Compel Ex. L) Thus, this Court need not even reach a decision weighing the burdensomeness against the need for the information because there are not enough facts to support such a motion. See Flanagan, 231 F.R.D. at 102 (citations omitted). Interpreting each party’s motions and attached exhibits as motions for a protective order, this Court denies this part of the motion.

II. The Motion to Compel Bacardi to Serve a Log of Documents Withheld Due to Claims of Privilege or Work Product.

Bacardi, in its reply, stated that it would serve a log of privileged work to Centinela [5]*5once their Motion to Dismiss is ruled upon.1 Since this Court has now ruled on Bacardi’s motion to dismiss, this Court will grant Cen-tinela’s motion and order Bacardi to turn over a copy of their privilege log to Centine-la.

III. Rule 30(b)(6) Notice of Deposition

There are four basic duties Rule 30(b)(6) bestows upon a deponent. See Alexander v. F.B.I., 186 F.R.D. 137, 141 (D.D.C. 1998). First, the deponent has the duty of being knowledgeable on the subject matter identified as the area of inquiry. Id. (citations omitted). Second, a deponent is under a duty to designate more than one deponent if it is necessary to do so in order to respond to the relevant areas of inquiry that are specified with reasonable particularity by the plaintiff. Id. (citations omitted). Third, the designating party has a duty to prepare the witness to testify on matters not only known by the deponent, but those that should be reasonably known by the designating party. Id. (citations omitted). Fourth, the designating party has a duty to substitute an appropriate deponent when it becomes apparent that the previous deponent is unable to respond to certain relevant areas of inquiry. Id. (citations omitted).

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242 F.R.D. 1, 68 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 27, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22887, 2007 WL 1020785, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tequila-centinela-sa-de-cv-v-bacardi-co-dcd-2007.