In Ongoing Sanctions Dispute, Protective Order Limits Access to and Uses For Production, and Clarifies No Waiver by Production Pursuant to Self-Defense Exception
Qualcomm Inc. v. Broadcom Corp., 2008 WL 4858685 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 7, 2008)
At trial in this case, Broadcom made an oral motion for sanctions related to Qualcomm’s failure to disclose documents corroborating its participation in the Joint Video Team (“JVT”), a standards body related to video coding specifications. Qualcomm’s claimed lack of participation in the JVT was a core element of its claims for patent infringement against Broadcom. Judge Brewster referred the discovery aspects of that motion to Magistrate Judge Major and then issued an Order on Remedy for Finding of Waiver based on his determination that Qualcomm’s attorneys had participated in a sequence of discovery misconduct throughout the litigation process. However, because those attorneys had not had an opportunity to be heard before the order was issued impugning their behavior and in order to afford them an opportunity to be heard on the potential imposition of attorney sanctions, the court issued an Order to Show Cause Why Sanctions Should not be Imposed.