FULL RANGE ELECTRONICS CO LTD v. GENERAL-TECH INDUSTRIAL LTD AND ANOTHER

FULL RANGE ELECTRONICS CO LTD v. GENERAL-TECH INDUSTRIAL LTD AND ANOTHER

The court ordered specific discovery limited to documents relating to production of moulds and documents concerning sales/supply/offers to Alaron (limited to May 1992 to end of June 1995) because those documents were prima facie in existence, within defendants' power and relevant to issues of liability and estoppel;...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
FULL RANGE ELECTRONICS CO LTD v. GENERAL-TECH INDUSTRIAL LTD AND ANOTHER
Parties
Plaintiff: Full Range Electronics Company Limited; 1st Defendant: General-Tech Industrial Limited; 2nd Defendant: Tsang Chiu Ming
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
17 January 1997
Case Number
HCA10374/1995
Procedural Posture
Appeal (interlocutory Discovery) / Judgment on Appeal
Outcome
Appeal allowed in part and dismissed in part; discovery ordered in part
Legal Topics
Specific Discovery, Estoppel, Infringement, Damages, Account of Profits
Source Language
en
Copyright Civil Procedure Discovery Intellectual Property Specific Discovery Estoppel Infringement Damages +1 more

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Summary, issues, holding and outcome

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Parties

Full Range Electronics Company Limited

Plaintiff

General-Tech Industrial Limited

1st Defendant

Tsang Chiu Ming

2nd Defendant

Procedural Posture

Appeal (interlocutory Discovery) / Judgment on Appeal

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether specified classes of documents exist and are in defendants' possession custody or power
  2. 2 Whether the documents relate to matters in question in the action (ownership, infringement, alleged agreement/estoppel)
  3. 3 Whether discovery sought is necessary for disposing fairly of the cause or merely a fishing expedition

Ratio Decidendi

The court ordered specific discovery limited to documents relating to production of moulds and documents concerning sales/supply/offers to Alaron (limited to May 1992 to end of June 1995) because those documents were prima facie in existence, within defendants' power and relevant to issues of liability and estoppel; discovery of broader promotional materials and documents of sales to other customers was refused as either covered by the Alaron category or constituting an impermissible fishing expedition or relating primarily to quantum/damages.

Court Disposition

Appeal allowed in part and dismissed in part; discovery ordered in part

Orders

  • Order specific discovery of documents relating to production of moulds for the manufacture of the headphone radio (deleting 'etc.')
  • Order specific discovery of documents relating to sale/supply/offer for sale or supply of the headphone radio to Alaron Inc. or Alaron Asia or their agents for the period May 1992 to end of June 1995 (deleting 'etc.')