Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. v. Superior Court

Summary

Petitioner Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. (Firestone), seeks extraordinary relief to compel respondent Alameda County Superior Court to set aside its order requiring Firestone to provide certain trade secret (Evid. Code, § 1060) information to real parties in the underlying personal injury action. The disclosure is subject to a protective order. (Civ. Code, § 3426.5.)

Firestone insists that on the record below respondent was required to deny the motion in its entirety or alternatively to first require real parties to pursue less intrusive alternatives to disclosure.

As will be seen, we grant the petition, and in doing so, we specify guidelines for trial courts to evaluate trade secret discovery requests in future cases. (Oceanside Union School Dist. v. Superior Court (1962) 58 Cal.2d 180, 185-186 [ 23 Cal.Rptr. 375 , 373 P.2d 439 ].)

Background

Petitioner is the defendant in a wrongful death action. Real parties are the survivors of Lydia Consuela Rios, who was killed August 14, 1988, in an automobile accident allegedly caused by the failure of one of the Firestone “721” tires on the car she was driving. Real parties’ complaint pleads Firestone’s liability under…