InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[whizzeresq]

Laranger--There are two issues involved. Some federal courts do not enforce discovery subpoenas, they only enforce subpoenas for direct testimony or production of documents before the arbitration panel during the actual hearing. Off the top of my head, I do not know what approach NY federal courts take. In my previous post to you, I indicated that there is a view that some cases take that documents belonging to a corporation are found where the corporate office is located. Because Ericy's corporate office is in Texas and Sony-Ericy has one in North Carolina, Nokia went to those federal courts. Perhaps because Ericy and Sony-Ericy don't have corporate offices in NY, Nokia did not seek discovery subpoenas there because Nokia did not want to risk having a NY court denying a motion to compel because those companies do not have corporate offices there. Also, the same question would arise as to whether a NY court would rule like Judge Lynn and hold that it would not compel a pre-arbitration discovery subpoena. You have to realize that courts and arbitration panels do not have jurisdiction throughout the United States. We spend months studying questions relating to jurisdiction in law school, but much of it is based on fairness. As an example, assume you were an expert on IDCC patents and lived in California and Nokia thought that you might know something that would help them in the arbitration. An arbitration panel in NY would not have jurisdiction to drag you from California to NY to testify, nor would a federal court in NY. If you lived in NY, then a federal court would have that power.