ORDER DENYING APPLICATIONS FOR LEAVE TO OBTAIN DISCOVERY FOR USE IN FOREIGN PROCEEDINGS
(Re: Docket No. 1)
A few months back, Applicant Qual-comm Incorporated received an Examiner’s Report from the Korean Fair Trade Commission. The news was not good: the Examiner charged Qualcomm and its licensing of standard-essential patents with violating South Korean antitrust law. The KFTC has set a date for Qualcomm to respond, but Qualcomm must do so without access to any materials the Examiner considered or even cited that were supplied by third parties. Deprived of this access in Korea, Qualcomm now turns to this court for help pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
I.
A curious quirk of our law is that American courts are not limited to American disputes. If foreign tribunals and parties to their proceedings need evidence from third parties located in the United States, they may take discovery of such evidence through a court-supervised procedure enacted by Congress. If the third party is willing to turn over the evidence, no problem. United States law “does not preclude a person within the United States from voluntarily giving his testimony or statement, or producing a document or other thing, for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal before any person and in any manner acceptable to him.”
To that end, Section 1782(a) holds that “[t]he district court of the district in which a person resides or is found may order him to give his testimony or statement or to produce a document or other thing for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal, including criminal investigations conducted before formal accusation.” The statute adds that “[t]he order may be made.. .upon the application of any interested person and may direct that the testimony or statement be given, or the document or other thing be produced, before a person appointed by the court.” A further provision adds that “[t]he order may prescribe the practice and procedure, which may be in whole or part the practice and procedure of the foreign country or the international tribunal, for taking the testimony or statement or producing the document or other thing. To the extent that the order does not prescribe otherwise, the testimony or statement shall be taken, and the document or other thing produced, in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”
The KFTC is an administrative agency that enforces compliance with the Republic of Korea’s Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act.
The Examiner’s Report is akin to a statement of charges, and it must include what is known as appended data, or evidence supporting the Examiner’s position.
After the Report is issued, the examinee may present a written response and defend itself at a hearing.
Qualcomm now applies ex parte under Section 1782 for leave to take discovery from Respondents to prepare its response to the Examiner’s Report and for hearing before the KFTC Committee.
II.
This court has subject matter jurisdiction over Qualcomm’s applications under Section 1782. Although these applications may be sought ex parte under Civ. L.R. 7-10, this court exercised its discretion to allow briefing at this stage by the targets of interest.
III.
When considering a Section 1782 application, the court must first determine whether Section 1782’s three statutory requirements are satisfied, and then whether the four factors laid out in Intel support issuing a subpoena. Section 1782 first requires that “the person from whom the discovery is sought resides or is found in the district of the district court to which the application is made.”
However, simply because a court has the authority under Section 1782 to grant an application does not mean that it is required to do so.
(1) whether the material sought is within the foreign tribunal’s jurisdictional reach and thus accessible absent Section 1782 aid; (2) the nature of the foreign tribunal, the character of the proceedings underway abroad, and the receptivity of the foreign government or the court or agency abroad to U.S. federal-court jurisdictional assistance; (3) whether the Section 1782 request conceals an attempt to circumvent foreign proof-gathering restrictions or other policies of a foreign country or the United States; and (4) whether the subpoena contains unduly intrusive or burdensome requests.42
Applying the above standards, while Qualcomm’s applications satisfy Section 1782’s statutory requirements, the Intel considerations weigh against granting Qualcomm’s requested subpoenas.
As for the Samsung Entities — the only Respondent to seriously contest this factor — while they do not reside here,
The Samsung Entities argue that none of these facts is sufficient to render them found in this district.
Section 1782’s second and third statutory requirements also are satisfied. As to the second requirement, the discovery sought is for use in a proceeding before the KFTC, which is a foreign administrative agency. Intel held that Section 1782 “authorizes, but does not require, a federal district court to provide assistance to a complainant in a European Commission proceeding that leads to a dispositive ruling, i.e., a final administrative action both responsive to the complaint and reviewable in court.”
Second, the Intel factors nonetheless collectively weigh against granting Qualcomm’s applications. The first factor, “whether the material sought is within the foreign tribunal’s jurisdictional reach and thus accessible absent Section 1782 aid,”
[wjhen the person from whom discovery is sought is a participant in the foreign proceeding..., the need for § 1782(a) aid generally is not as apparent as it ordinarily is when evidence is sought*1039 from a nonparticipant in the matter arising abroad. A foreign tribunal has jurisdiction over those appearing before it, and can itself order them to produce evidence. In contrast, nonpartieipants in the foreign proceeding may be outside the foreign tribunal’s jurisdictional reach; hence, their evidence, available in the United States, may be unobtainable absent § 1782(a) aid.63
Apple, MediaTek and the Samsung Entities argue that they are participants in the KFTC proceedings because they gave documents and information to the KFTC’s investigatory team.
It is unclear from the information available to the court, however, whether cooperating with the Examiner’s investigation makes these Respondents participants in the KFTC proceedings. The KFTC Committee makes the final ruling whether an antitrust violation has occurred, and both Qualcomm and the Examiner will appear before the Committee to argue their positions. None of the Respondents argues that it will be appearing before the Committee, or that it bears any relevant relation to either Qualcomm or the Examiner. In that light, Qualcomm and the Examiner are the participants in the KFTC proceedings, and so cooperating with the Examiner’s investigation does not mean that the Respondents are participants before the foreign tribunal responsible for adjudicating the dispute.
The issue of whether an entity is a participant, however, is not dispositive; Intel puts it in the context of whether the foreign tribunal has the authority to order an entity to produce the disputed evidence. Other courts have interpreted this to focus on whether the evidence “is available to the foreign tribunal,” because in some circumstances, evidence may be available to a foreign tribunal even if it is held by a nonparticipant to the tribunal’s proceedings.
The second Intel factor, which is “the nature of the foreign tribunal, the character of the proceedings underway-abroad, and the receptivity of the foreign government or the court or agency abroad to U.S. federal-court judicial assistance,”
Qualcomm argues that the court should disregard the information in the amicus brief, because it “does not come from the General Counsel’s office responsible for administration of the hearing phase of the proceedings or from the KFTC Committee that will make the ultimate decision.”
The third Intel factor, which is whether an applicant seeks “to circumvent foreign proof-gathering restrictions or other policies of a foreign country or the United States,” also favors Respondents. The KFTC states that it has procedures for requesting “copies of documents and data supporting” the Examiner’s Report and that Qualcomm has a pending request for those materials.
[permitting Qualcomm to sidestep Korean legal procedures and obtain these materials directly from the Companies under U.S. law would subvert the KFTC’s power to control when and how confidential investigatory materials are released. Currently, the KFTC can balance Korean policy goals and the privacy and confidentiality rights of third parties against the target of the investigation’s potential need for the information. .. .This balancing would be impossible, however, if the target of an investigation into a potential violation of Korean law could run to the U.S. courts and obtain all materials provided to the KFTC(along [sic] with other materials) by third parties with some connection to the U.S.81
Qualcomm argues that its applications do not circumvent the KFTC’s Case Handling Procedures because it seeks more discovery under its Section 1782 applications than it can obtain through the Case Handling Procedures.
The fourth Intel factor, which is “whether the subpoena contains unduly in
From Apple, Qualcomm seeks the following:
• All documents provided by Apple to the KFTC in connection with any investigation or proceeding from January 1, 2011 to the present, concerning “Qualcomm, Mobile Devices, Modem Chipsets, and/or Cellular IPR, and all documents quoted, cited or referenced therein.”91
• Documents from January 1, 2005, to the present, sent by Apple to Qual-comm “sufficient to show any request by Apple to Qualcomm for a license only to Cellular IPR or any response by Qualcomm to such a request.”92
• Documents provided by Apple to Qualcomm “sufficient to show any request by Apple for a list of any Qualcomm IPR or any response by Qualcomm to such a request.”93
• All documents filed or served by Samsung in several cases between Samsung and Apple.94
• A deposition related to these topics.95
From Intel, Broadcom, MediaTek, Samsung, Texas Instruments and VIA Technologies, Qualcomm requests the following:
• “All documents You have provided to the KFTC in connection with any investigation or proceeding from January 1, 2011 to the present,” concerning “Qualcomm, Mobile Devices, Modem Chipsets, and/or Cellular IPR, and all documents quoted, cited or referenced therein.”96
• “Documents received by You from January 1, 2005 to the present” from a Modem Chipset customer or potential customer “sufficient to show any concerns on the part of such customer or potential customers regarding Your lack of an exhaustive license from Qualcomm to Cellular IPR.”97
*1044 • “Documents from January 1, 2005 to the present sufficient to show any decision by You to limit Your sales or development of Modem Chipsets or any components of a Modem • Chipset due to Your lack of an exhaustive license from Qualcomm to Cellular IPR.”98
• Depositions related to these topics.99
From Samsung, Qualcomm also requests “[a]ll. documents filed or served by” Samsung in or with respect to five different lawsuits.
Qualcomm’s requests are not narrowly tailored temporally, geographically or in their subject matter. They are not limited to documents or information connected to the KFTC proceedings at issue or to activity in or affecting Korea;
Qualcomm argues that its requests are not unduly burdensome or intrusive for several reasons. Most importantly, while production may be burdensome or intrusive, the inquiry is whether it is unduly so in light of the relevance of the information, and these documents are, in Qualcomm’s view, highly relevant.
Qualcomm’s arguments are unpersuasive, however, because when weighed against the relevance of the information sought, the requests are overbroad. It specifically seeks more documents than those that Respondents collected and gave to the Examiner; indeed, one purpose of pursuing discovery under Section 1782 rather than the KFTC’s Case Handling Procedures is that the Procedures give Qualcomm access to a more limited range of material than Section 1782 does. As for the “documents sufficient to show” requests, even if Qual-comm believes that no responsive documents exist, the requests for production and deposition nonetheless require Respondents to search through troves of material spanning over a decade. These requests are not narrowly tailored.
IV.
The Intel factors strongly weigh against granting Qualcomm’s requests for Section 1782 subpoenas. Qualcomm’s applications are DENIED.
SO ORDERED.
Notes
. See Docket No. 1 (all docket references are to Case No. 5:16-mc-80002-PSG unless otherwise specified); Case No. 5:16-mc-80003-PSG, at Docket No. 1; Case No. 5:16-mc-80004-PSG, at Docket No. 1; Case No. 5:16-mc-80005-PSG, at Docket No. 1; Case No. 5:16-mc-80006-PSG, at Docket No. 1; Case No. 5:16-mc-80007-PSG, at Docket No. 1; Case No. 5:16-mc-80008-PSG, at Docket No. 1.
. See Intel v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.,
. 28 U.S.C. § 1782(b).
. 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a). Additional relief may be available by request under the Hague Evidence Convention, but that alternative is not at issue here.
. See Docket No. 25-4 at V 5.
. See id. at V 6.
. See Docket No. 22-6 at ¶ 5.
. See id. at ¶ 6.
. See Docket No. 22-6 at ¶¶ 6, 11-15, 22; MRFTA, Art. 62 ("No commissioner, public official who performs or has performed his/ her duties under this Act.. .shall divulge any confidential information of an enterpriser or an enterprisers’ organization which he/she learned in the course of carrying out his/her duties, or use it for the purpose, other than to enforce this Act.”).
. See id. at ¶ 7, 9.
. See id. at ¶ 9.
. See Docket No. 25-4 at ¶ 10.
. See id.
. See Docket No. 22-6 at ¶ 14.
. See id.; KFTC Rules, Art. 29-2.
. See Docket No. 22-6 at ¶ 13; KFTC Rules, Art. 29 ¶ 10.
. See id. at ¶ 11.
. See id.
. See id. at ¶¶ 8-9.
. See id. at ¶ 9.
. See Docket No. 25 at 2.
. See Docket No. 25-4 at ¶ 9.
. See Docket No. 22-6 at ¶ 10.
. See Docket No. 25 at 2.
. A "standard” is a collection of technical specifications that allow mobile devices from various sources to interoperate on a cellular network. Patents are essential to a standard if they must be practiced in order to comply with the standard’s requirements. See Commonwealth Sci. & Indus. Research Organisation v. Cisco Sys., Inc.,
. See Docket No. 1 at 3.
. See id.; Case No. 5:16-mc-80003-PSG, at Docket No. 1 at 3; Case No. 5:16-mc-80004-PSG, at Docket No. 1 at 3; Case No. 5:16-mc-80005-PSG, at Docket No. 1 at 3; Case No. 5:16-mc-80006-PSG, at Docket No. 1 at 4; Case No. 5:16-mc-80007-PSG, at Docket No. 1 at 3; Case No. 5:16-mc-80008-PSG, at Docket No. 1 at 4.
. See Docket No. 25 at 3.
. See id.
. See Docket No. 1; Case No. 5:16-mc-80003-PSG, at Docket No. 1; Case No. 5:16-mc-80004-PSG, at Docket No. 1; Case No. 5:16-mc-80005-PSG, at Docket No. 1; Case No. 5:16-mc-80006-PSG, at Docket No. 1; Case No. 5:16-mc-80007-PSG, at Docket No. 1; Case No. 5:16-mc-80008-PSG, at Docket No. 1.
. See Docket No. 22; Case No. 5:16-mc-80003-PSG, at Docket No. 25; Case No. 5:16-mc-80005-PSG, at Docket No. 21; Case No. 5:16-mc-80006-PSG, at Docket No. 16; Case No. 5:16-mc-80007-PSG, at Docket No. 19.
. See Docket No. 16.
. See Docket Nos. 25, 27.
. See Docket No. 15; Case No. 5:16-mc-80003-PSG, at Docket No. 16; Case No. 5:16-mc-80005-PSG, at Docket No. 16; Case No. 5:16-mc-80007-PSG, at Docket No. 16.
. 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a).
. In re Godfrey,
. 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a).
. Intel,
. 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a).
. Id.
. See Intel,
. In re Republic of Ecuador, Case No. C-10-80225,
.See Case No. 5:16-mc-80005-PSG, at Docket No. 21 at 6. MediaTek argues that while MediaTek USA is found here, its foreign affiliates are not, and that MediaTek USA does not possess any relevant documents. See Four Pillars Enterprises Co., Ltd. v. Avery Dennison Corp.,
. See Locations, Broadcom.com, https:// www.broadcom.com/contactdocations.php (last visited Jan. 20, 2016).
. See Case No. 5:16-mc-80007-PSG at Docket No. 1 at 5.
. See Sales Offices, VIA, http://www.viatech. com/en/about/sales-offices/ (last visited Jan. 20, 2016).
. In re Godfrey,
. SEC is headquartered in Korea, SEA is headquartered in New Jersey and STA was merged into SEA last year. See Case No. 5:16-mc-80006-PSG at Docket No. 16 at 1.
. See, e.g., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. v. Apple Inc., Case No. 5:1 1-cv-02079-LHK,
. See Docket No. 25 at 23.
. See Case No. 5:16-mc-80006-PSG at Docket No. 16 at 7.
. See, e.g., Grynberg v. Ivanhoe Energy, Inc.,
. See Case No. 5:16-mc-80006-PSG at Docket No. 1 at 6; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. v. Apple Inc., Case No. 5:11-cv-02079-LHK,
. See, e.g., Soma Med. Int’l v. Standard Chartered Bank,
. See Docket No. 25 at 24.
. Other cases have recognized that designating an agent for service of process and holding a license support a finding of continuous and systematic contacts. See, e.g., Bancroft & Masters, Inc. v. Augusta National Inc.,
.Samsung acknowledges that one of its subsidiaries maintains a permanent headquarters in this District, but cites cases to show that the presence of a wholly-owned subsidiary within a district is insufficient to establish that the parent is "found” there. See Case 5:16-mc-80006-PSG at Docket No. 16 at 9. However, one court rejected that factor only to the extent it was the sole reason the court could decide that the parent was "found” in the' district, see In re Application of Nokia Corp., Case No. l:07-MC-47,
. See Coremetrics, Inc. v. Atomic Park.com, LLC,
. Intel,
. See Docket No. 2 at ¶¶ 5, 9.
. See In re Ex Parte Application of Glob. Energy Horizons Corp., Case No. 5:15-MC-80078-PSG,
. In re Republic of Ecuador,
. Intel,
. See Docket No. 22 at 7; Case No. 5:16-mc-80005-PSG, at Docket No. 21 at 9; Case No. 5:16-mc-80006-PSG, at Docket No. 19 at 5.
. See Case No. 5:16-mc-80003-PSG at Docket No. 25 at 9, 11.
. See Case No. 5:16-mc-80007-PSG at Docket No. 19 at 5.
. See In re Kreke Immobilien KG, Case No.
. In re Microsoft,
. See Docket No. 25-4 at ¶ 11.
. Intel,
. See, e.g., In re Ex Parte Application of Nokia Corp., Case No. 513MC80217EJDPSG,
. Docket No. 16 at 1, 3.
. In re Application of Chevron Corp., 709 F.Supp.2d 283, 292 (S.D.N.Y.2010).
. See In re Application of Microsoft Corp., Case No. C 06-80038 JF (PVT),
. Docket No. 25 at 9.
. See id. at 10; Docket No. 25-4 at ¶ 6.
. See Docket No. 25 at 9-10.
. Docket No. 16 at 1-3 (e.g., "The KFTC opposes Qualcomm Incorporated’s applications... The KFTC asks the Court to deny Qualcomm’s applications.. .the KFTC has no need for the requested discovery.”).
. Id. at 2.
. Id. at 1.
. Id. at 2.
. See Docket No. 25 at 11-12.
. See id. at 12:
. Id.
. Id.
. See id. at 12-16.
. See In re Application of Microsoft Corporation,
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/ cooperation_agreements/150908kftc-ftc-dojmou.pdf; Docket No. 22-1 at ¶ 13; Docket No. 22-5. Cf. In re Rubber Chemicals Antitrust Litig.,
. Intel,
. See Matter of Application of O2CNI Co., Ltd., Case No. C 13-80125 CRB (LB),
. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(1).
. Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 9.
. Id.
. Id.
. See id.
. See id. at ECF p. 17.
. Case No. 5:16-mc-80003-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 9; Case No. 5:16-mc-80004-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 9; 5:16-mc-80005-PSG at Docket No. 1 at ECF p. 22; 5:16-mc-80006-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 9; 5:16-mc-80007-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 9; 5:16-mc-80008-PSG at Docket No. 1 at ECF p. 22.
. Case No. 5:16-mc-80003-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 9; Case No. 5:16-mc-80004-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 9; 5:16-mc-80005-PSG at Docket No. 1 at ECF p. 22; 5:16-mc-80006-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 10; 5:16-mc-80007-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 9; 5:16-mc-80008-PSG at Docket No. 1 at ECF p. 22.
. Case No. 5:16-mc-80003-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 9; Case No. 5:16-mc-80004-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 9; 5:16-mc-80005-PSG at Docket No. 1 at ECF p. 22; 5:16-mc-80006-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 9; 5:16-mc-80007-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 9; 5:16-mc-80008-PSG at Docket No. 1 at ECF p. 22.
. Case No. 5:16-mc-80003-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 16; Case No. 5:16-mc-80004-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 16; 5:16-mc-80005-PSG at Docket No. 1 at ECF p. 29; 5:16-mc-80006-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 17; 5:16-mc-80007-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 16; 5:16-mc-80008-PSG at Docket No. 1 at ECF p. 29.
. Case No. 5:16-mc-80006-PSG at Docket No. 1-1 at ECF p. 9.
. See Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. v. Intel Corp.,
. See Thompson v. Doel, Case No. 5:13-mc-80088-EJD (PSG) (N.D. Cal.), ECF No. 2 (Order Denying Without Prejudice Ex Parte Application Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782 at 3-4) (denying application for "extraordinary” overbreadth where applicant sought "over five years of activity from the [email] account at issue without explaining at all why such a wide swath is necessary”).
. See Matter of Application of O2CNI Co., Ltd.,
. See In re Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Antitrust Litig., Case No. C-07-5944-SC,
. See Docket No. 22 at 16.
. See id.
. See In re Republic of Ecuador,
. See Docket No. 25 at 17-18.
. See id. at 18.
. See id. at 19.
