Author: FGC
On May 23, 2016, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York determined that “just as a plaintiff may not take discovery regarding unpled claims, so a defendant is precluded from seeking discovery concerning unpled defenses”.
In this intellectual property dispute, Defendants moved – among other requests – for an order compelling Plaintiffs to produce all requested discovery material. Plaintiffs responded to the discovery at issue, but the defendants considered the responses to be insufficient.
The Court noted that the newly amended Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 extends discovery only to information relevant to claims or defenses. And the plain language of the Rule does not provide for discovery of “likely,” “anticipated,” or “potential” claims or defenses.”
Lifeguard Licensing Corp. v. Kozak, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68724 (S.D.N.Y. May 23, 2016) can be downloaded with subscription at Lexis Nexis Open Pdf
For more information, Francesca Giannoni-Crystal
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