Judge Ho Calls Strike Three on Plaintiff’s Subpoena to Baseball Star Bryce Harper | Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP
On April 10, 2024, Judge Dale E. Ho granted a motion to quash a third-party subpoena served on Major League Baseball player Bryce Harper in connection with a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Athalonz, LLC against Under Armour, Inc. in the Eastern District of Texas.
In the patent litigation, Athalonz accused certain athletic footwear sold by Under Armour of infringement. Under Armour moved to transfer, but the Texas court denied the motion, citing the Dallas residence of professional golfer Jordan Spieth—who purportedly helped design Under Armour’s accused “Spieth”-branded golf shoes—as weighing against transfer. Athalonz then served a subpoena on Harper, seeking information about Under Armour’s accused “Harper”-branded baseball cleats.
Harper moved to quash the subpoena, and Judge Ho granted the motion. In doing so, Judge Ho found Athalonz failed to show that Harper had relevant information regarding the patent infringement dispute. Complying with the broad requests in the subpoena would also be unduly burdensome for a non-party like Harper, given that the requested discovery was likely available directly from defendant Under Armour. Finally, the court declined to give deference to the fact that the E.D.T.X. court had considered Spieth—another sponsor of accused Under Armour shoes—to have relevant information because Spieth appeared to have been directly involved in designing accused shoes while Harper was not. However, the court left the door open for Athalonz to serve a new subpoena if it determines that Harper in fact has “unique, non-duplicative knowledge of facts” relevant to the case.
Athalonz, LLC v. Under Armour, Inc., No. 24 Mise. 0047 (DEH) (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 10, 2024)
