Jessie Steele, Inc, v. Henderson

Filing 22

ORDER by Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu granting 20 Administrative Motion. (dmrlc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 9/1/2017)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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JESSIE STEELE, INC,,

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Plaintiff,
v.

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LINDA ANN HENDERSON,
Defendant.

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Case No. 17-cv-02179-RS (DMR)
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF
JESSIE STEELE, INC.'S
ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION FOR
LEAVE TO TAKE LIMITED
EXPEDITED DISCOVERY
Re: Dkt. No. 20

Plaintiff Jessie Steele, Inc. (“Plaintiff”) moves the court pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil

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Procedure 26(d) for leave to take discovery prior to the Rule 26 conference. Plaintiff seeks

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information to support its request for damages as part of a motion for default judgment it intends

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to file against Defendant Linda Ann Henderson (“Defendant”). [Docket No. 20]. Specifically,

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Plaintiff requests permission to issue early subpoenas to PayPal, Inc. (“PayPal”) and Amazon, Inc.

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(“Amazon”) to obtain information and documents regarding Defendant’s sales of Plaintiff’s

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trademarked and copyrighted products to consumers on Amazon and e-Bay.com (“eBay”). On

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July 28, 2017, the Honorable Richard Seeborg referred this motion to the undersigned for

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resolution. [Docket No. 21]. This matter is appropriate for determination without oral argument.

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See Civ. L.R. 7-1(b). For the reasons contained herein, the court GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion.

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I.

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FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Plaintiff is a global distributor of aprons, garments, bags, totes, stationary, accessories,

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kitchenware, and kitchen textiles. Compl., ¶ 11 [Docket No. 1]. Plaintiff sells its product under

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the registered trademarks JESSIE STEELE®, CANDY BAKER®, FEARLESSLY FEMININE®,

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and BRING HAPPY HOME®. Id., ¶¶ 14(a) through (f). Plaintiff also has numerous registered

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copyrights for the pattern and designs featured on its products. Id., ¶ 15. Specifically, Plaintiff

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has registered copyrights on the following designs: Pink Cottage Rose; Green/White Damask;

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Easter Egg Ribbon; Paris Boutique; Parisian Toile; Vintage Kitchen; Blue Cherry Cupcakes;

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Cupcake Placement Print; Kitchen Cherry Placement Print; Anchors; Kitchen Cherry; and Navy

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French Toile. Compl., ¶ 15.

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Defendant imports counterfeit JESSIE STEELE®, FEARLESSLY FEMININE®, and

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BRING HAPPY HOME® products from China into the United States and resells these counterfeit

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products in the United States. Id., ¶ 18. Defendant has registered accounts on eBay and Amazon

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through which she advertises and sells the counterfeit products using Plaintiff’s registered

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trademarks and registered copyrighted materials. Id., ¶¶ 20-21. Defendant facilitates the

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processing of payments received for the counterfeit products through eBay via PayPal’s payment

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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processing services. Id., ¶ 20.
Plaintiff alleges that Defendant sold at least three counterfeit JESSIE STEELE® aprons on

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eBay and Amazon. Id., ¶¶ 22-25. On November 29, 2016, Plaintiff authorized the purchase of a

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“Jessie Steele Floral Courtney Cherry Kitchen Apron - Women’s Mother/Daughter,” as advertised

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for sale by Defendant on eBay under the eBay seller ID “lindaannsvariete” for $19.99. Id., ¶ 23.

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On December 20, 2016, Plaintiff authorized the purchase of a “Jessie Steele Café Josephine Toile

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Retro Kitchen Apron,” as advertised for sale by Defendant on eBay under the “lindaannsvariete”

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eBay seller ID for $20.99. Id., ¶ 24; Vener Decl., ¶ 2 [Docket No. 20-1]; PayPal transaction

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receipt for December 20, 2016 eBay sale (Ex. A to Vener Decl.) [Docket No. 20-2]. On

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December 27, 2016, Plaintiff authorized the purchase of a “Jessie Steele Parisian Toile Bib

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Josephine Apron,” as advertised for sale by Defendant on Amazon.com under the Amazon seller

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ID “Linda Anne’s Variete” for $23.99. Compl., ¶ 22; Vener Decl., ¶ 3; Amazon transaction

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receipt for December 27, 2016 Amazon sale (Ex. B to Vener Decl.) [Docket No. 20-3]. Upon

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inspection, all three aprons purchased and received from Defendant under the “lindaannsvariete”

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eBay seller ID and “Linda Anne’s Variete” Amazon seller ID were counterfeit. Compl., ¶ 25.

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On April 19, 2017, Plaintiff filed this action against Defendant, alleging violations of the

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Latham Act, the Copyright Act, and California Business & Professions Code § 17200. Compl.

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On April 29, 2017, Plaintiff served Defendant with the summons and complaint. See Proof of

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Service of Summons [Docket No. 15]; Vener Decl., ¶ 5. Defendant did not file a responsive
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pleading by the applicable deadline. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(a)(1)(A)(i) (a defendant must serve an

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answer or responsive pleading within 21 days of service of the summons and complaint). On June

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28, 2017, pursuant to Plaintiff’s request, the Clerk entered default against Defendant. See Mot. for

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Entry of Default [Docket No. 16]; Clerk’s Entry of Default [Docket No. 17].
Plaintiff thereafter filed the instant motion for early discovery seeking documents from

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PayPal and Amazon regarding Defendant’s sales of JESSIE STEELE®, FEARLESSLY

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FEMININE®, and BRING HAPPY HOME® products under her “lindaannsvariete” eBay seller

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ID and her Amazon “Linda Anne’s Variete” seller ID. Plaintiff also requests the same information

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for other accounts held by Defendant or Defendant’s aliases that are presently unknown to
Plaintiff. Plaintiff contends that expedited discovery is necessary because it has been unable to

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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hold the Rule 26(f) conference and initiate discovery as Defendant has failed to appear. Plaintiff

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asserts that the only way that it can obtain discovery regarding damages to support its motion for

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default judgment is through issuance of subpoenas to eBay and Amazon.

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II.

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DISCUSSION
Generally, a party may not initiate discovery before the parties have met and conferred

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pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(f). However, a court may authorize earlier

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discovery “for the parties’ and witnesses’ convenience and in the interests of justice.” Fed. R. Civ.

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P. 26(d)(3). The plaintiff must demonstrate good cause for early discovery. See Semitool, Inc. v.

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Tokyo Electron Am., Inc., 208 F.R.D. 273, 276 (N.D. Cal. 2002). “Good cause may be found

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where the need for expedited discovery, in consideration of the administration of justice,

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outweighs the prejudice to the responding party.” Semitool, 208 F.R.D. at 276. Courts have

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applied the “good cause” standard to requests for early discovery where a defendant is in default.

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See e.g., Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corp. v. Dhindsa, No. 1:10-CV-00335-LJO-SKO, 2010

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WL 2353520, at *2 (E.D. Cal. June 9, 2010) (granting request for early discovery of the defendant,

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where the defendant was in default); Antoine v. Boutte, No. CV 15-561-JWD-EWD, 2016 WL

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6138252, at *3-4 (M.D. La. Oct. 20, 2016) (granting request for early discovery of third-parties for

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damages information relevant to a motion for default judgment).

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Having considered the motion as well as the record in this case, the court finds that
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Plaintiff has established good cause to engage in limited early discovery directed to PayPal and

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Amazon to obtain information regarding Defendant’s sales of counterfeit JESSIE STEELE®,

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FEARLESSLY FEMININE®, and BRING HAPPY HOME® products. By failing to appear,

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Defendant effectively has prevented Plaintiff from conducting a Rule 26(f) conference and

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initiating discovery. Plaintiff therefore has no option for obtaining damages information other

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than to issue subpoenas to PayPal and Amazon for Defendant’s sales information. Permitting

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early discovery would move the case forward, as Plaintiff’s only remaining course of action is to

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seek a default judgment. Semitool, 208 F.R.D. at 277 (permitting early discovery in a patent

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infringement case where it would “substantially contribute to moving the case forward”).
Additionally, Plaintiff’s proposed discovery appears to be narrowly tailored and limited to

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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the issue of damages. According to Plaintiff, the proposed subpoenas seek registration and contact

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information for Defendant’s eBay and PayPay IDs (“lindaannsvariete,” “lindaann253@hotmail,”

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and “[e-mail]”) and Defendant’s Amazon seller ID (“Linda Anne’s Variete”),

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and information and documents relating to Defendant’s sales of JESSIE STEELE®,

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FEARLESSLY FEMININE®, and BRING HAPPY HOME® products including quantity, type,

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date of sale, price at sale, and costs associated with each sales transaction. See Proposed Order at

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2 [Docket No. 20-4]. The proposed subpoenas also request that PayPal and Amazon produce the

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aforementioned information and documents for other accounts held by Defendant or Defendant’s

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aliases which are presently unknown to Plaintiff. Id.
To the extent that eBay or Amazon believes that the subpoenas are objectionable, they may

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move to quash the subpoenas pursuant to Rule 45. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 45(d)(3)(A)(iv) (“On

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timely motion, the court for the district where compliance is required must quash or modify a

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subpoena that . . . subjects a person to undue burden.”).
In light of the foregoing and in consideration of the administration of justice, the court

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finds that Plaintiff has established good cause for the limited early discovery that it seeks.

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III.

CONCLUSION

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In conclusion, the court grants Plaintiff’s motion for early discovery. Plaintiff may serve

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subpoenas on Amazon and PayPal that are consistent with this order. Plaintiff shall serve a copy
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United States District Court
Northern District of California

. Ryu

onna M
Judge D

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______________________________________
ERED
Donna M.D
SO OR Ryu
IT IS
United States Magistrate Judge

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Dated: September 1, 2017

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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of this order on PayPal and Amazon along with service of the subpoenas.

UNIT
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