Resources for Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)

Compliance And E-Discovery: Two Inseparable Risk Management Functions

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Qualcomm v. Broadcom is a patent case. Broadcom alleged that Qualcomm had intentionally withheld information about its intellectual property from other members of a standards body so that it could attain a market advantage. Qualcomm alleged that they did not participate in the standards making, so that they did not need to disclose their IP. Standards are what allow us to use multiple devices regardless of manufacturer, such as a USB port. The Judge, Rudi Brewster, found for Broadcom.

The e-discovery issues in this case focused on whether e-mails that had been harvested had been produced during discovery. They were not. After the end of the case and judgment on the merits, Qualcomm ran some key word searches that produced 200,000 pages of documents that could have been responsive to Broadcom's discovery requests. Judge Rudi Brewster ordered Qualcomm to pay Broadcom's attorneys fees and costs. The Magistrate Judge handling the e-discovery, Barbara Lynn Major, also issued an order to show cause for 14 attorneys representing Qualcomm by name, including name partners, to demonstrate why they should not be subject to personal sanctions. The potential sanctions stated in the order could require each attorney to formally notify his clients and the courts where they have cases pending of their e-discovery misbehavior, issuance of a referral to the state bar for disciplinary action and other sanctions. Those results should be known on August 29, 2007.

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