Opinion
22-cv-04476-SI
02-02-2024
ROBLOX CORPORATION, Plaintiff, v. WOWWEE GROUP LIMITED, et al., Defendants.
ORDER RE: DISCOVERY DISPUTES RELATED TO ORDER AT DKT. 152 AFTER SUBMISSION OF ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS BY THE PARTIES
RE: DKT. NO. 163
SUSAN ILLSTON UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
On December 4, 2023, this Court issued an order on numerous discovery disputes presented by the parties in a joint discovery letter. See Dkt. No. 152. For a few of these disputes, the Court had insufficient information to rule on the dispute and directed the parties to provide additional information. See Id. On December 19, 2023, the parties submitted a joint letter with additional information and documentation pertaining to the unresolved disputes. Dkt. No. 163. Having reviewed the provided documentation and related briefing, the Court hereby orders the following:
I. Roblox Interrogatory 18
In this interrogatory, Roblox asks WowWee to “Identify in detail the factual basis for each financial figure contained in the document Bates stamped WOWWEE-00000002.” Dkt. No. 129-8 at 20. WowWee responded to the interrogatory: “the document… contains amounts budgeted based on WowWee's then current understanding of the likely marketing needs of the My Avastars Fashion Dolls.” Id. at 21. WowWee argues that this interrogatory contains multiple subparts because it seeks a detailed explanation of the factual basis for each of 145 financial figures in the document. Dkt. No. 129 at 10. WowWee further argues that this interrogatory is overbroad, not proportional, and unduly burdensome. Id. Roblox responds that “a single interrogatory about that document, notwithstanding the number of lines…, is squarely within the scope of a single interrogatory” and the document is critical because is “addresses key financial information about the dolls at issue.” Id. The Court directed the parties to provide the referenced Bates stamped document. Dkt. No. 152 at 10.
The Court has reviewed WOWWEE-00000002. See Dkt. No. 163, Ex. 1. The Court agrees with WowWee that the interrogatory as written is overbroad in that it requests detail about the factual basis for each financial figure. However, the Court finds that it is difficult to understand the meaning of the figures in the spreadsheet without additional explanation. The Court thus ORDERS WowWee to supplement its response to include a brief explanation of what each of lines 5 through 43 refer to and what each of columns C through F refer to.
II. Sydney Wiseman's Gmail Account
Roblox indicates that it demanded Ms. Wiseman's gmail account be included in WowWee's searches for responsive information after defendants produced a number of documents that included Ms. Wiseman's personal gmail address, but defendants refused. Dkt. No. 129 at 11. Roblox asserts that Ms. Wiseman testified in her deposition that she uses her gmail account for work purposes. Id. WowWee responds that Roblox confuses the differences between use of Google tools and Google email. Id. at 12. WowWee indicates it has searched for and produced relevant documents from Ms. Wiseman's general Google account, but has repeatedly confirmed that Ms. Wiseman uses her official WowWee email for work purposes, not her personal gmail email account. Id. The Court ordered the parties to provide the Court with the portions of deposition testimony they claim support their positions. Dkt. No. 152 at 13.
The Court has reviewed all documents provided by the parties, including portions of deposition testimony they claim support their respective positions and copies of related emails. See Dkt. No. 163, Exs. 2-4. The Court agrees with Roblox that Ms. Wiseman's deposition testimony and associated emails make clear that Ms. Wiseman used her personal gmail address for work purposes along with her WowWee email address. The Court thus ORDERS WowWee to include Ms. Wiseman's personal gmail address in searches for responsive information and to produce all responsive nonprivileged documents that include Ms. Wiseman's personal Google account and personal gmail address.
The Court further notes that Ms. Wiseman testified during her deposition that her username for her personal Google account is her gmail email address. See Dkt. No. 163, Ex. 2(a).
III. Discord-Related Discovery
This dispute concerns Roblox's RFP No. 104, where Roblox requests “All Communications on Discord about Roblox or with Gamefam.” Dkt. No. 129-7 at 23. Roblox asserts that defendants have produced documents indicating that communications on Discord about Roblox or with Gamefam exist and that WowWee “frequently used Discord to communicate about My Avastars Fashion Dolls and related products,” yet defendants have failed to produce any Discord chat messages or records. Dkt. No. 129 at 11. WowWee responds that the Discord Roblox refers to was set up by a Gamefam representative for My Avastars, so the messages are not in WowWee's possession, custody, or control. Id. at 12. WowWee further asserts that Ms. Wiseman confirmed she never used Discord in connection with My Avastars Fashion Dolls. Id. The Court directed the parties to provide the Court with the documentation that supports their positions. Dkt. No. 152 at 13.
The Court has reviewed all documents provided by the parties. See Dkt. No. 163, Exs. 5-13. The documents submitted indicate that Andrew Yanofsky, WowWee's Vice President of Marketing and Operations, either set up or was an administrator for a Discord chat that was used for work-related purposes. See Dkt. No. 163 Ex. 5(a) (“… I'll add you to the group discord,” “will create a Discord for this”); Ex. 5(b) (“We'll manage the actual go-live activities in the Discord…”, “we're building a discord group too with all our partners”); Ex. 5(h) (“Will send a link before the call, or you can add me on Discord [username] and we can chat there?”); Ex. 7 (“There was a Discord chat or group set up by a Gamefam representative for My Avastars. I was an admin role on that Discord group.”). One email between Gamefam personnel and WowWee personnel indicate some images related to the My Avastars dolls were sent in a Discord chat. Id. Ex. 5(d). Jessica Kalichman of WowWee also testified that she had a Discord account that she created “to explore the… chat room that the Gamefam team created…” Id. Ex. 8. Mr. Yanofsky testified that the Discord chat group for My Avastars still exists. Id. Ex. 7. However, the Court also finds RFP No. 104 as written vague and overbroad. Roblox must be more specific about what categories of communications it requests and a time frame. Once Roblox provides more specificity, WowWee is ordered to produce all responsive nonprivileged documents in WowWee's possession, custody, or control.
IV. WowWee Interrogatory 20
In this interrogatory, WowWee asks Roblox to “Describe in detail any meetings that You had with Gamefam from July 1, 2022 through August 31, 2022, including the identities of the attendees, the topics and nature of the discussions, and any related follow-up correspondence You had with Gamefam.” Dkt. No. 129-1 at 11. The parties' dispute concerns a July 11, 2022 meeting between Roblox and Gamefam. Dkt. No. 163 at 2. WowWee asserts that Roblox has “failed to produce a single document that substantively discusses this meeting, and the Roblox witnesses who attended have either left the company or testified that they have no recollection of anything that happened at the meeting.” Id. WowWee argues that the lack of produced documents and communications about the meeting “shows exactly why WowWee is entitled to a detailed, fulsome interrogatory response based on Roblox's proper factual investigation of all the attendees at that meeting.” Id. WowWee notes that it requested documents and communications relating to the July 11, 2022 meeting in RFP Nos. 15, 55, 59, 62, 56-57. Id.
Roblox responds that it has already produced all non-privileged documents and communications responsive to the RFPs defendants identify that relate to the July 11, 2022 meeting. Id. Roblox also indicates that it identified all six attendees of the meeting in response to this interrogatory, but defendants sought to depose only two of them. Id. Roblox's response to Interrogatory 20 was:
Roblox met with Gamefam on July 11, 202[2] to discuss matters related to this action, including the My Avastars Dolls' infringement on Roblox's intellectual
property, the improper use of redemption codes, the collaboration between Gamefam and WowWee, and the lack of communication with Roblox. Roblox attendees included Hannah Lowry, Markus Okano, and Lauren Freeman. Gamefam attendees included Joseph Ferencz, Alli Guglielmino, and Ricardo Briceno. Pursuant to Rule 33(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Roblox identifies produced documents with the following beginning Bates numbers as containing information about meetings and any related follow-up correspondence Roblox had with Gamefam from July 1, 2022 through August 31, 2022 related to the My Avastars Fashion Dolls, My Avastars: RP and/or WowWee: ROBLOX-AVASTARS-00014462 to ROBLOX-AVASTARS-00014515.Dkt. No. 129-1 at 11-12. The Court finds that this is a sufficient response by Roblox to Interrogatory No. 20.
IT IS SO ORDERED.