Orange County Choppers Inc. v. Trio Selection Inc.

Orange County Choppers Inc. v. Trio Selection Inc.

The court denied most contested discovery questions as irrelevant, privileged or disproportionate, upheld settlement privilege for pre-action negotiations, ordered OCC to produce letters of approval for 2003 and the documents responsive to categories E and F under the existing protective order by November 20, 2006, limited further pursuit of Mr. Amann’s discovery to properly focused written follow-up questions under rule 99 to be served by December 5, 2006, and dismissed the remaining requests; costs of the motion were awarded in the cause.

Citation
2006 FC 1307
Parties
Plaintiff / Defendant by Counterclaim: Orange County Choppers Inc.; Defendant / Plaintiff by Counterclaim: Trio Selection Inc.
Court
Federal Court
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
27 October 2006
Procedural Posture
Trademark Infringement and Invalidity Action / Motion for Determination of Discovery Questions (written Motion)
Outcome
Motion partially granted and partially dismissed
Legal Topics
Scope of Discovery, Settlement Privilege, Distinctiveness, Likelihood of Confusion, Protective Order, Written Examination for Discovery, Relevance and Proportionality
Source Language
English
Intellectual Property Trademark Law Civil Procedure Discovery Law Scope of Discovery Settlement Privilege Distinctiveness Likelihood of Confusion +3 more

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Parties

Orange County Choppers Inc.

Plaintiff / Defendant by Counterclaim

Trio Selection Inc.

Defendant / Plaintiff by Counterclaim

Procedural Posture

Trademark Infringement and Invalidity Action / Motion for Determination of Discovery Questions (written Motion)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the trade-mark ORANGE COUNTY registered by Trio is distinctive and registerable
  2. 2 Whether OCC’s use of ORANGE COUNTY CHOPPERS is likely to create confusion with Trio’s ORANGE COUNTY
  3. 3 Whether Trio suffered damages or lost profits from alleged infringement

Ratio Decidendi

The court denied most contested discovery questions as irrelevant, privileged or disproportionate, upheld settlement privilege for pre-action negotiations, ordered OCC to produce letters of approval for 2003 and the documents responsive to categories E and F under the existing protective order by November 20, 2006, limited further pursuit of Mr. Amann’s discovery to properly focused written follow-up questions under rule 99 to be served by December 5, 2006, and dismissed the remaining requests; costs of the motion were awarded in the cause.

Court Disposition

Motion partially granted and partially dismissed

Orders

  • OCC to provide Trio, under the protection of the existing protective order if OCC deems appropriate, copies of letters of approval for the year 2003 (category D) by November 20, 2006
  • OCC to provide Trio copies of documents responsive to categories E and F by November 20, 2006