Angioscore, Inc. v. Trireme Medical, Inc. et al

Filing 356

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE: JOINT LETTER RE: SPECTRANETICS SUBPOENA. Signed by Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley on 11/7/2014. (ahm, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 11/7/2014)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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ANGIOSCORE, INC.,

Case No. 12-cv-03393-YGR (JSC)

Plaintiff,
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v.
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TRIREME MEDICAL, INC., et al.,
Defendants.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE RE: JOINT
LETTER RE: SPECTRANETICS
SUBPOENA
Re: Dkt. Nos. 345, 348

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Plaintiff AngioScore, Inc. asserts claims for patent infringement and violation of state law

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against Defendants TriReme Medical, LLC, Eitan Konstantino, Quattro Vascular Pte Ltd., and QT

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Vascular Pte. Ltd. Now pending before the Court is a motion to quash three subpoenas issued to

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third-party Spectranetics Corporation, AngioScore’s new corporate parent. (Dkt. Nos. 345 &

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348.) Because it appears that the Court lacks jurisdiction over any such motion to quash pursuant

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to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(d)(3), the Court hereby orders the moving party to SHOW

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CAUSE as to why the motion should not be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

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Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45, which governs the issuance of subpoenas, was

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substantially amended in 2013. Relevant here are the amendments that concern motions to quash

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subpoenas issued pursuant to Rule 45. The amended version of Rule 45 requires that subpoenas

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be issued from the court where the action is pending. Fed. R. Civ. P. 45(a)(2). Although the prior

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version of the Rule gave the issuing court jurisdiction over motions to quash subpoenas, see Fed.

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R. Civ. P. Rule 45(c)(3) (2012), the current version of the Rule provides that “the court for the

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district where compliance is required” has jurisdiction to quash or modify subpoenas, see Fed. R.

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Civ. P., Rule 45(d)(3) (2014). Thus, “[u]nder the current version of the Rule, when a motion to

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quash a subpoena is filed in a court other than the court where compliance is required, that court

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lacks jurisdiction to resolve the motion.” Agincourt Gaming, LLC v. Zynga, Inc., No. 14-CV-0708,

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2014 WL 4079555, at *3 (D. Nev. Aug. 15, 2014).
The three subpoenas at issue here were properly issued by the United States District Court

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for the Northern District of California—the district where this action is pending. The subpoenas,

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however, all require compliance in another district; namely, the United States District Court for

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the District of Colorado. The August 1, 2014 subpoena requires compliance in Colorado Springs,

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Colorado where Spectranetics is headquartered. (Dkt. No. 348 at 9.) The October 1, 2014

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subpoena is likewise directed at Spectranetics, although it lists the place of compliance as “c/o

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Brian Daniz Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati P.C. 650 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304.”

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(Dkt. No. 348 at 23.) The October 17, 2014 subpoena requires compliance at the same Colorado

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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Springs address as the August 1 subpoena. (Dkt. No. 348 at 32.) The motion to quash was

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nonetheless filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

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As the August 1 and October 17 subpoenas require compliance in another district, this

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Court lacks jurisdiction over any motion to quash. See Fed. R. Civ. P., Rule 45(d)(3). The

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October 1 subpoena appears invalid on its face as it is likewise addressed to the Spectranetics

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Corporation, which is headquartered in Colorado Springs, but requires compliance at the office of

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Plaintiff’s counsel Mr. Daniz in Palo Alto. This contravenes Rule 45(c)(2)’s requirement that a

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subpoena command “production of documents, electronically stored information, or tangible

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things at a place within 100 miles of where the person resides, is employed, or regularly transacts

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business in person.”

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Finally, the Court notes that it is unclear on whose behalf the motion to quash is made.

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Prior to the 2013 amendments to Rule 45 courts routinely held that “[o]rdinarily a party has no

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standing to seek to quash a subpoena issued to someone who is not a party to the action, unless the

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objecting party claims some personal right or privilege with regard to the documents sought.”

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United States v. Real Prop. & Improvements Located at 2441 Mission St., San Francisco,

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California, No.13-2062, 2013 WL 6774081, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 23, 2013) (internal citation and

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quotation marks omitted). The 2013 Amendments to Rule 45 replaced “party” in the text of the

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rule with “person.” See Rule 45(a)(1)(D), Advisory Comm. Notes 2013 Amendments (“‘person’
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is substituted for ‘party’ because the subpoena may be directed to a nonparty.”) However, there is

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no indication in the advisory committee notes that the amendments were intended to broaden the

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scope of who has standing to move to quash a subpoena. Courts that have considered the issue of

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standing following the 2013 amendments have assumed that the standing requirements remain

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unchanged. See, e.g., R. Prasad Indus. v. Flat Irons Envtl. Solutions Corp., No. CV-12-08261,

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2014 WL 2804276, at *3 (D. Ariz. June 20, 2014) (noting that there was an issue with respect to a

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non-party’s standing to quash a subpoena on another non-party’s behalf pursuant to Rule

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45(d)(3)(A)); Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Iny, No. 13-CV-01561, 2014 WL 1796216, at *1 (D.

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Nev. May 6, 2014) (noting that “a party has no standing to seek to quash a subpoena issued to a

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non-party to the action”); California Sportfishing Prot. Alliance v. Chico Scrap Metal, Inc., 299

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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F.R.D. 638, 643 (E.D. Cal. 2014) (noting that “the general rule [] is that a party has no standing to

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quash a subpoena served upon a third party, except as to claims of privilege relating to the

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documents being sought”). Here, the letter brief moving to quash the subpoenas is filed by

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Plaintiff AngioScore’s counsel and is written variously from the point of view of AngioScore and

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Spectranetics. Notably, Defendants appear to assume the motion is brought on behalf of

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Spectranetics. Accordingly, in responding to this Order to Show Cause, the moving party shall

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clearly identify itself.

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For the reasons explained above, the moving party shall SHOW CAUSE as to how the

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Court has jurisdiction over the underlying subpoenas. The response shall take the form of a joint

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letter brief in accordance with this Court’s Standing Order such that Defendants have the

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opportunity to respond to the moving party’s response to the Order to Show Cause. The joint

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letter brief shall be filed by November 14, 2014.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: November 7, 2014
______________________________________
JACQUELINE SCOTT CORLEY
United States Magistrate Judge

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