Chief Judge Leonard P. Stark recently issued a memorandum order analyzing waiver of attorney client privilege and work product protection. At issue was the plaintiff patentee’s corporate representative, who had not answered certain questions during a deposition, and certain documents withheld from discovery and interrogatory responses. The defendant argued that the all of this discovery should be made available both because the plaintiff put its “state of mind at the time it filed the underlying infringement suits” at issue and because the plaintiff had “selectively disclosed some attorney-client communications and documents prepared in anticipation of litigation, thereby waiving privilege with respect to communications and documents related to the same subject matter.” Judge Stark found that “this combination – [the plaintiff’s] contention that it brought and litigated the infringement actions in good faith, along with [its] selective use of privileged materials to support that assertion – waives privilege.” Princeton Digital Image Corp. v. Office Depot Inc., C.A. No. 13-239-LPS, Memo. Or. at 1-2 (D. Del. Aug. 1, 2017).
Princeton Digital Image Corp. v. Office Depot Inc., C.A. No. 13-239-LPS (D. Del. Aug. 1, 2017).
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