Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. v. Kozumi USA Corp.

295 F.R.D. 517, 2013 WL 5952096, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160287
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Florida
DecidedJanuary 28, 2013
DocketNo. 4:12mc66-RH/CAS
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 295 F.R.D. 517 (Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. v. Kozumi USA Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. v. Kozumi USA Corp., 295 F.R.D. 517, 2013 WL 5952096, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160287 (N.D. Fla. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

CHARLES A. STAMPELOS, United States Magistrate Judge.

On December 4, 2012, non-party Eric Walter Camil, Sr. (Camil) filed a motion to quash a November 21, 2012, subpoena. Doc. 1. Finding the ruling clear, an Order was entered on December 5, 2012, granting the motion to quash. Doc. 3.

On January 8, 2013, Camil filed a second motion to quash two subpoenas. Doe. 4. The motion advised that Plaintiff, Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. (Ubiquiti) served two subpoenas on Camil, a licensed Florida private investigator and non-party, on December 28, 2012. Doc. 4. The first subpoena requested Camil to produce documents, items 1 through 7, on January 11, 2013, and the second subpoena requested Camil to appear and testify at a deposition in Tallahassee, Florida, on January 14, 2013. Docs. 4, 4-1, 4-2. On January 9, 2012, an Order was entered staying discovery and provided Plaintiff and Defendants with the opportunity to file a response to the motion to quash by January 15, 2013, and Camil was authorized to file a reply by January 18, 2013. Doc. 5. Ubiquiti filed a response on January 15th followed by Camil’s reply filed on January 18th. Doc. 7, 9. (Ubiquiti also filed a motion to seal Exhibit I that is part of several attachments to Ubiquiti’s response. Doc. 8.)

A. The Underlying Complaint and Preliminary Injunction

On October 8, 2012, Ubiquiti filed a First Amended Complaint in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, Oakland Division, Case No. 12-CV2582-CW. Doc. 7-1, Exhibit A. Ubiquiti sued Kozumi USA Corp., a Florida corporation (Kozumi); Shao Wei Hsu (Hsu); and Does One through One Hundred. Doc. 7-1, Exhibit A at 1. Ubiquiti alleges it is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in San Jose, California, and “designs, develops and offers for sale under the UBIQ-UITI mark a wide variety of equipment used in wireless communications, including receivers, transmitters, routers, and antennas, as well as software used to operate the devices.” Id. at 2. Ubiquiti alleges that Kozumi is a Florida corporation with its principal place of business in Miami, Florida, and “is a former distributor of genuine Ubiquiti products” and “continues to distribute equipment used in wireless communications, including counterfeit Ubiquiti products.” Id. Hsu is alleged to be a Brazilian citizen, residing and conducting business in Wellington, Florida, and “is the founder, sole owner and director of Kozumi.” Id. It is also alleged that the Federal District Court in California “has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1121 (action arising under the Lanham Act); 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (federal question); 28 U.S.C. § 1338(a) (any Act of Congress relating to trademarks); 28 U.S.C. § 1367 (supplemental jurisdiction); and the U.S. copyright laws, 17 U.S.C. § 101, et seq. Id. (In addition to the federal claims, Ubiquiti raises several claims under California law and one common law claim. Id. at 32, 35, 37, and 39.)

In its Preliminary Statement to the First Amended Complaint, Ubiquiti alleges:

1. Defendants have masterminded an international counterfeiting scheme to profit illegally from Ubiquiti’s established trademarks and goodwill in the wireless and networking technology markets. Using stolen source code and proprietary designs, Defendants have been manufacturing millions of dollars’ worth of counterfeit Ubiquiti products, packaging them in boxes that are virtually identical to genuine Ubiquiti packaging, and selling them to unsuspecting customers throughout the world. These customers are deceived into believing that they are purchasing genuine Ubiquiti products when they are actually buying substandard counterfeit goods. The availability of these counterfeit products in the marketplace is causing substantial harm to the Ubiquiti brand and business and needs to be stopped immediately.

Id. at 1.

A review of the attachments to Ubiquiti’s response indicates that on June 20, 2012, United States District Judge Claudia Wilken [519]*519entered an “Order Granting, in Part, Ubiquiti’s Application for Temporary Restraining Order, Granting Defendants’ Motion to Accept Objections and Setting Date for OSC Hearing.” Doc. 7-1, Exhibit B at 50-88. In the Order granting, in part, the TRO, Judge Wilken noted that “[ajlthough Ubiquiti asserts thirteen causes of action in its complaint, only the three Lanham Act claims are at issue here. Ubiquiti does not seek a TRO for its copyright claims.” Doc. 7-1, Exhibit B at 78.

On July 5, 2012, Judge Wilken entered an “Order Granting Motion for Preliminary Injunction” and also entered a “Preliminary Injunction” against HSU, “aka William Hsu Wu, and Kozumi” and others. Doc. 7-1, Exhibits C and D at 90-96, 98-99.

B. Ubiquiti’s Request of Camil to Produce Documents and Communications and to be Deposed

In support of its need to subpoena documents and communications and further depose Camil, Ubiquiti asserts in its response to the motion to quash:

Documents produced by Hsu confirm that Camil had been hired to investigate Ubiquiti CEO Robert Pera, that he gave Hsu reports on his investigations, and that those investigations were related to stock analysts’ reports on Ubiquiti that Ubiquiti believes hurt the company and its stock price. {See Taylor Deck Exs. H, I, and J.) Camil’s investigations are intertwined with Hsu and Kozumi’s activities and therefore highly relevant to Ubiquiti’s case.

Doc. 7 at 1-2. Ubiquiti further asserts:

The subpoenas to Camil seek documents and information directly relevant to the attacks on Ubiquiti. Discovery obtained from Defendant Hsu in the underlying litigation revealed correspondence between Hsu and Camil showing that Camil had been hired to investigate Ubiquiti and its CEO, Robert Pera. (Taylor Deck, Exs. H, I.) Camil had regular correspondence not only with Defendant Hsu, but also with Hsu’s counterfeiting partner in China, Kenny Deng, in May 2012. (Taylor Deck, Ex. J.) Those communications indicate that Camil, in addition to investigating Ubiquiti and its CEO, has connections to one or more stock analysts to whom he could feed information about Ubiquiti. {Id.) This raised for Ubiquiti the question of whether Camil was involved in feeding false information about Ubiquiti to stock analysts and the media and, if so, how.
Based on that discovery, on December 27, 2012, Ubiquiti served a subpoena on Camil for documents: (1) sufficient to show the identity of Camil’s client; (2) relating to Defendant Kozumi USA, Corp; (3) showing communications between Camil and Kozumi’s current or former directors, officers or employees; (4) relating to Hoky Technologies, Ltd. (the company of Hsu’s confederate Kenny Deng); (5) showing communications between Camil and Hoky’s current or former directors, officers or employees; (6) relating to Ubiquiti; and (7) and relating to Robert Pera. (Taylor Deck Ex.

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295 F.R.D. 517, 2013 WL 5952096, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160287, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ubiquiti-networks-inc-v-kozumi-usa-corp-flnd-2013.