Andover Healthcare, Inc. v. 3M Company, No. 14-3434 (8th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseAndover appealed the district court's denial of its 28 U.S.C. 1782 petition for discovery to be used in a patent-infringement suit in Germany. The district court considered Andover’s petition in light of the considerations identified by the Supreme Court and concluded that three considerations weighed against an order of production: (1) 3M is a party to the parallel German infringement suit and the German court had said it would grant Andover’s discovery request if necessary to resolve the case; (2) the “highly sensitive nature of the requested discovery, and the lack of certainty that its confidentiality can be maintained," and (3) Andover’s apparent attempt to avoid or preempt an unfavorable decision on discovery by the German court. In this case, the German court is in a position to order the requested discovery if the information is needed, and the German court is best positioned to assess whether any disclosure can be accomplished without jeopardizing the sensitive trade secrets involved. Accordingly, the court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Andover's petition. The court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Colloton, Author, with Loken and Murphy, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Civil Procedure. The district court did not abuse its discretion by denying petitioner's petition under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1782 for discovery to be used in a patent-infringement suit in Germany; the court took into account the factors identified by the Supreme Court and did not err in finding that three considerations - the ability of the German tribunal to order discovery, the highly sensitive nature of the requested discovery and petitioner's apparent attempt to avoid or preempt an unfavorable discovery decision by the German court - weighted against an order of production.
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