Intel v. AMD
AMD complained to the Directorate-General of the European Commission (which investigates alleged antitrust violations within the European Union) that Intel was abusing its dominant market position in the E.U.; the Directorate began investigating the charges against Intel. AMD sought to obtain documents from Intel through a U.S. district court under 28 U.S.C. ยง 1782. AMD intends to turn the documents over to the Directorate, in hopes of further establishing its antitrust allegations against Intel. Section 1782 allows a district court to order the production of documents "for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal" upon request by “any interested person." Currently, circuit courts are split over whether Section 1782 imposes an additional burden on “interested persons,” requiring that the party seeking to use Section 1782 must also be capable of obtaining the same materials through discovery mechanisms in the foreign jurisdiction. In this case, the district court had denied AMD’s discovery request and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, holding (1) that the investigation of the European Commission qualified as a proceeding under section 1782, and (2) that the statute did not require AMD to show that the documents it sought would be discoverable in the European Commission.
Questions Presented:
Section 1782 of Title 28 of the United States Code provides that a district court may order the production of documents or testimony "for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal"
upon request "by a foreign or international tribunal or upon the application of any interested person." The questions presented are:
1. Whether Section 1782 authorizes a district court to order production of materials, for use in a foreign tribunal, when the foreign tribunal itself would not compel production of the
materials.
2. Whether Section 1782 authorizes production of materials for presentation in an anti-competitive practice investigation by the Commission of European Communities, on the theory that the
investigation will lead to "a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal."
3. Whether, for purposes of Section 1782, a party that files a complaint with the Commission of European Communities is an "interested person."
