throbber
Case 1:23-cv-00758-JLH-SRF Document 172 Filed 10/10/24 Page 1 of 6 PageID #: 4474
`
`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
`
`ORCA SECURITY LTD.,
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`v.
`
`WIZ, INC.
`
`Defendants.
`
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`)
`
`C.A. No. 23-0758-JLH-SRF
`
`REDACTED PUBLIC VERSION
`
`LETTER TO THE HONORABLE SHERRY R. FALLON FROM KELLY E. FARNAN
`REGARDING RESPONSE TO ORCA’S OCTOBER 2, 2024 LETTER
`
`Frederick L. Cottrell, III (#2555)
`Kelly E. Farnan (#4395)
`Christine D. Haynes (#4697)
`RICHARDS, LAYTON & FINGER, P.A.
`One Rodney Square
`920 N. King Street
`Wilmington, DE 19801
`(302) 658-6541
`cottrell@rlf.com
`farnan@rlf.com
`haynes@rlf.com
`
`Counsel for Defendant Wiz, Inc.
`
`OF COUNSEL:
`
`Jordan R. Jaffe
`Lisa Zang
`Catherine Lacy
`Callie Davidson
`Alex Miller
`WILSON SONSINI GOODRICH & ROSATI, P.C.
`One Market Plaza
`Spear Tower, Suite 3300
`San Francisco, CA 94105
`(415) 947-2000
`
`Praatika Prasad
`WILSON SONSINI GOODRICH & ROSATI, P.C.
`1301 Avenue of the Americas, 40th Floor
`New York, NY 10019-6022
`(212) 999-5800
`
`Dated: October 3, 2024
`
`

`

`Case 1:23-cv-00758-JLH-SRF Document 172 Filed 10/10/24 Page 2 of 6 PageID #: 4475
`
`Dear Judge Fallon:
`
`Wiz Produced Responsive Documents As Required by the ESI Order and Agreed by the
`Parties: Orca’s position that all documents (and email families) that hit on the parties’ search
`terms must be produced in response to the parties’ Priority Requests, regardless of relevance, is
`untenable in light of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Orders governing this case, the case
`law, and the parties’ meet and confers regarding the Priority Requests.
`Under Rule 26(b)(1), discovery is limited to “nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any
`party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case.” Likewise, the Default Standard
`for Discovery, Including Discovery of Electronically Stored Information (“Default ESI Order”),
`which is incorporated into the ESI Order in this case (D.I. 71 at 1), is clear that the purpose of ESI
`discovery is to “identify and produce relevant information.” Default ESI Order, ¶ 1.b (emphasis
`added). The ESI Order itself requires production of only “non-privileged custodial ESI responsive
`to the parties’ Priority Requests.” D.I. 71 at 6 (emphasis added). Nowhere does the Order
`contemplate that everything that hits on a search term is responsive.
`The case law confirms that a “responsive” document is one that is relevant to the issues or
`defenses of the case at hand and that relevance review of documents that hit on custodial ESI
`search terms is standard and appropriate. Ex. A, CMC Materials, LLC v. Dupont De Nemours,
`Inc., D.I. 191 (D. Del. Oct. 11, 2023) (J. Hall) (oral order denying plaintiff’s request to compel
`defendant to turn over all search-term-identified documents where defendant “offered plausible
`evidence that the parties agreed to use search terms to ‘locate potentially responsive emails’”); see
`also Monolithic Power Sys., Inc. v. Intersil Corp., 2018 WL 6077973, at *1 (D. Del. Nov. 19,
`2018) (adopting Special master’s opinion denying plaintiff’s “motion to compel [defendant] to
`produce all non-privileged e-mail returned by agreed-upon search terms/custodians without
`conducting a ‘relevance review.’”); Palmer v. Cognizant Tech. Sols. Corp., 2021 WL 3145982, at
`*9 (C.D. Cal. July 9, 2021) (The “Court will not compel defendants to produce any document
`simply because it contains a search term whether or not it is responsive to the discovery request,
`or, by extension, whether or not it is relevant and proportional to the needs of the action.”).
`The only case Orca cites is inapposite. CrossFit, Inc. v. Nat’l Strength & Conditioning
`Association, 2019 WL 6527951 (S.D. Cal. Dec. 4, 2019). In that case, hundreds of documents and
`devices were lost, and the Court found the losing party had “acted with intent to deprive [the other
`party] of the lost ESI.” Id. at *10. The consideration of these lost documents as presumptively
`relevant came in the context of determining whether to impose sanctions for spoliation, as the
`documents could not be reviewed for relevance. Id. at *6. Despite its misconduct, the defendant
`was still permitted to review “presumptively relevant” documents that were not destroyed for
`responsiveness prior to production. Id. at *3. Wiz, on the other hand, is not “withholding” any
`relevant, responsive, non-privileged documents.1
`As Orca acknowledges, Wiz also objected to Orca’s Priority Requests on the basis of
`relevance. Ex. C; D.I. 155-4 at 2. Orca’s position that all non-privileged hits must be produced
`would essentially require a party like Wiz to refuse to run any search terms in order to preserve
`objections to producing irrelevant documents. Such a position is impractical, contrary to law, and
`
`1 Orca’s attempt to inject irrelevant topics here should not be given any credence. For example,
`Orca spills ink on JIRA tickets even though Wiz produced all non-privileged tickets that hit on
`Orca’s search terms (given the timing under the Court’s order). Ex. B. Despite having the same
`amount of time as Wiz, however, Orca has not similarly produced any JIRA tickets. Orca should
`be required to produce all remaining JIRA tickets hitting on Wiz’s search terms by October 10.
`
`1
`
`

`

`Case 1:23-cv-00758-JLH-SRF Document 172 Filed 10/10/24 Page 3 of 6 PageID #: 4476
`
`would frustrate efforts to “reach agreements cooperatively” on search terms to run and review on
`ESI. Default ESI Order, ¶ 1.a.
`In addition, Orca is incorrect that “Wiz claims it verbally raised a relevancy/
`responsiveness review during a meet and confer.” D.I. 155 at 2. Counsel for Orca referred to the
`parties reviewing documents for relevance in a debate over whether the appropriate numbers to
`compare for emails were hit counts alone (which Orca contended were the only documents that
`would need to be reviewed for relevance) or hit counts plus families (which Wiz pointed out would
`need to be reviewed for privilege). Ex. D, ¶¶ 3-5. That the parties had this debate is reflected in
`the meet and confer correspondence. See, e.g., D.I. 155-4 at 15 (complaining Wiz did not provide
`“total hit count excluding family”); id. at 9 (noting “as discussed on the previous meet and confer”
`that hits plus families “is most representative for email given how email families are treated”).
`The underlying discussion of relevance review was not memorialized because it was not in
`dispute. In accordance with the parties’ mutual understanding, Wiz engaged human reviewers to
`conduct a responsiveness and privilege review of the documents that hit on Orca’s proposed search
`terms2 on a document-by-document basis. No “filtering” of any sort was used to make
`responsiveness determinations. Then, in accordance with the parties’ contemplated substantial
`completion deadline, Wiz produced a majority of the non-privileged, responsive documents. Wiz
`has explained its responsiveness review process to Orca at least 3 times.3 Orca’s apparent inability
`to understand this process is not credible. Wiz also explained to Orca that the remaining
`documents hit on privilege filters and were being reviewed on a document-by-document basis
`before production. D.I. 155-2 at 2. As Wiz has repeatedly made clear, Wiz is not withholding any
`non-privileged responsive documents; Wiz expects to produce most, if not all, the remaining
`documents this week. That Orca ultimately chose to produce a data dump without reviewing the
`documents in accordance with the ESI Order or the parties’ agreement has no bearing on what Wiz
`should be compelled to do. In fact, Orca’s conduct requires Wiz to expend more resources to wade
`through vast amounts of irrelevant information.
`
` What Orca Seeks is Irrelevant
`As to Documents Exchanged With or Disclosed to
`and Common Interest Privileged: The parties have no dispute as to the documents that Wiz has
`agreed to produce—that is, non-privileged documents that fall within the scope of Wiz’s
`agreement to produce in response to Orca’s RFPs. Stated another way, Wiz is not withholding the
`documents it has already agreed to produce simply because they were exchanged with or disclosed
`to
` D.I. 154-2 at 1; D.I. 155-9 at 1, 13.
`Where the dispute arises is in Orca’s demand for documents and emails that were
`exchanged between
` and are not independently responsive to Orca’s RFPs. In
`other words, Orca contends—and Wiz disputes—
`
`.
`
`
`This cannot be.
`
`
`More fundamentally, what Orca seeks falls outside Wiz’s ability to produce without
`breaking the common interest privilege.
`
`
`2 Wiz did not review or produce documents that hit on Orca’s “cloud native” search term because,
`as this Court recognized, the term is entirely improper. D.I. 139 at 4.
`3 Orca’s claim that Wiz was “unprepared” to discuss the ESI issue for “three weeks” is
`disingenuous. Wiz provided times to discuss but it was Orca that ignored these times and instead
`insisted on raising this issue when it was not on the discussion agenda. D.I. 155-3 at 3, 4-5.
`
`2
`
`

`

`Case 1:23-cv-00758-JLH-SRF Document 172 Filed 10/10/24 Page 4 of 6 PageID #: 4477
`
`
`At Orca’s request, Wiz promptly provided a copy of the NDA after satisfying its notice and
`disclosure obligations. The NDA states that
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`.
`Orca should have realized, upon receiving a copy of the NDA on September 17, 2024, t
`
`
`
` Both are protected by the common interest
`privilege. Wiz did not hear back from Orca until the September 30 meet and confer, when it
`became clear that Orca had not reviewed the NDA.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` Orca has cited no case supporting such
`discovery, including potentially reaching into discussions purely between lawyers.
`
`
`
`
`
` The cases Orca cites here are inapposite. Finjan v. Blue Coat Systems, Inc. dealt with a
`motion to strike revenue and prices specifically for “technology containing the accused features,”
` 2015 WL
`4129193, at *4 (N.D. Cal. July 8, 2015). 10x Genomics, Inc. v. Celsee, Inc. contemplated the
`common interest privilege where the subject letter “was not a joint defense letter” but, rather, “a
`nonbinding expression of the parties’ intent to consummate a stock acquisition.” 505 F. Supp. 3d
`334, 337-38 (D. Del. 2020). And, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Angewandten
`Forschung E.V. v. Sirius XM Radio featured a standard NDA for discussions about a potential
`agreement without any obligations. 2022 WL 20806272, at *4 (D. Del. June 28, 2022).
`The Court should deny Orca’s unprecedented request for irrelevant, common interest
`privileged materials
`
`
`Wiz Agreed to Produce Documents Relating to the Accused Functionalities for Orca’s RFP
`Nos. 91, 92, 94, and 113, and All Else Sought by Orca is Irrelevant: Orca has once again
`propounded overbroad RFPs untethered to this case or any party’s allegations. D.I. 62; D.I. 139
`(denying overbroad discovery). This includes asking for “all” documents related to Wiz’s Series
`E financing round (RFP No. 94), “all” documents related to the 2024 RSA Conference (RFP Nos.
`91, 92), and all presentations to the board of directors (RFP No. 113). Ex. E at 5-6, 2, 3, 25. Wiz
`has repeatedly explained why these types of requests are improper in this patent infringement
`
`3
`
`

`

`Case 1:23-cv-00758-JLH-SRF Document 172 Filed 10/10/24 Page 5 of 6 PageID #: 4478
`
`action. Still, in an effort to reach agreement on this issue, Wiz agreed to produce documents related
`to the accused “snapshot” functionality4 for each of these RFPs, because that functionality is the
`basis of Orca’s claims.5 Id. at 3, 4, 6, 26. Wiz has made clear that it is receptive to Orca’s requests
`for additional information provided those are reasonable. D.I. 154-5 at 8-9. For example, just
`recently, Wiz agreed to produce responsive documents related to the Supply Chain and Runtime
`Sensor functionalities even though it maintains that agent-based technology like the Runtime
`Sensor is not responsive. D.I.154-2 at 3. Orca is still not satisfied and thus must face the
`overbreadth and lack of proportionality in its requests as stated.
`Each of these RFPs as stated are grossly overbroad. Orca fails to explain why “all”
`documents related to the 2024 RSA Conference or Wiz’s Series E financing round are relevant or
`proportional to the needs of this case. All documents regarding funding round materials are not
`needed to establish damages, because, as Orca’s single cited case confirms, Wiz’s total value is
`not sufficiently tied to the Asserted Patents to be the basis of any damages calculation.6 D.I.155
`at 4. RFP 113’s request for board minutes related to the accused products is also overbroad because
`Orca contends Wiz has only one product, so it effectively asks for information about every board
`meeting Wiz has ever had. Orca has not provided authority to include irrelevant board meeting
`minutes in a patent case. Regarding RFP Nos. 91 and 92, even if certain documents were made
`publicly available two years after Orca illicitly obtained them (D.I. 124, ¶ 14), that would have no
`bearing on Wiz’s unclean hands defense.
`Finally, Orca’s “compromise” is not a compromise at all. WIZ_0032970 identifies all of
`Wiz’s product features. D.I. 133-10. As this Court has twice previously recognized, Orca has not
`shown that every document within Wiz is relevant to the asserted patents in this case. D.I. 62, D.I.
`139. Orca’s third attempt should similarly be rejected.
`
`Wiz’s Response to Orca’s Interrogatory No. 15 is Not Deficient: As Orca recognizes, Wiz has
`supplemented its response to Interrogatory No. 15 four times to provide all the information Orca
`specifically requested from Wiz. Wiz has identified the specific Orca documents it had access to,
`the dates of first access to those documents, how access was received (
`), which
`Wiz employee first received access, and details about the revocation of such access. D.I. 155-12
`at 41-45. And while Orca demands that Wiz identify every Wiz employee that accessed the
`information because Wiz’s Interrogatory No. 12 requests that information, Orca’s interrogatory
`does not ask for the same information. Orca’s interrogatory also does not request confirmation of
`the scope of documents in Wiz’s possession. There is no basis for Orca to demand that Wiz
`provide information not sought by its interrogatory.
`
`
`
`
`* * *
`In light of the above, Wiz respectfully requests that this Court deny Orca’s requests.
`
`4 Orca now asserts that it does not understand what the accused “snapshot” functionality is. This
`is not believable, given that it is Orca that brought this lawsuit and provided infringement
`contentions. For the avoidance of doubt, the accused “snapshot” functionality means any calls
`made by Wiz to a cloud service provider’s API that returns a snapshot or a location of a snapshot,
`whether the snapshot already existed or was generated as a result of the API call.
`5 Wiz will produce non-privileged, responsive documents as agreed by the end of this week.
`6 ResQNet.com, Inc. v. Lansa, Inc. does not discuss documents presented to investors; rather, its
`holding goes against Orca’s broad request. 594 F.3d 860, 869 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (finding damages
`model does connect proposed royalty with value of patented method).
`
`4
`
`

`

`Case 1:23-cv-00758-JLH-SRF Document 172 Filed 10/10/24 Page 6 of 6 PageID #: 4479
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Respectfully,
`
`/s/ Kelly E. Farnan
`
`Kelly E. Farnan (#4355)
`
`Counsel of Record (by e-mail)
`
`
`cc:
`
`
`
`5
`
`

This document is available on Docket Alarm but you must sign up to view it.


Or .

Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.

After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.

Accept $ Charge
throbber

Still Working On It

This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.

Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.

throbber

A few More Minutes ... Still Working

It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.

Thank you for your continued patience.

This document could not be displayed.

We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

Set your membership status to view this document.

With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll get a whole lot more, including:

  • Up-to-date information for this case.
  • Email alerts whenever there is an update.
  • Full text search for other cases.
  • Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.

Become a Member

One Moment Please

The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.

Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.

Your document is on its way!

If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.

Sealed Document

We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.

If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.


Access Government Site

We are redirecting you
to a mobile optimized page.





Document Unreadable or Corrupt

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket

We are unable to display this document.

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket