Information contained in this publication is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or opinion, nor is it a substitute for the professional judgment of an attorney.
In Applied Prof’l Training v. Mira Costa College [pdf], No. 10cv1372 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 9, 2012), U.S. Magistrate Judge Mitchell D. Dembin, ruling on the parties’ joint discovery motion, ordered that the plaintiff must either accept data in a reasonably usable format or, if requesting native files, must obtain the necessary hardware and software to view the data.
The plaintiff alleged that the defendants, a business competitor and the plaintiff’s former employees, misappropriated trade secrets, including the plaintiff’s customer lists and sales databases. In discovery, the plaintiff requested documents related to the defendants’ financial position and requested all electronically stored information in its native file format. The court ruled that the plaintiff’s request was not unreasonable, but cautioned that it was the plaintiff’s responsibility to obtain the necessary licenses to view the data in its native form: “[i]t is not incumbent upon Defendants ... to provide Plaintiff with any hardware and software needed to view the responsive data.”