415 433 6:m P.

02/11

COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRI cr

F I E
JAt-J2 1 2004
Cnurt ~f Appeal. Sixth App. Dist.

Appeal from the Superior Court of the Stateof California

County of Santa Clara, Honorable William J. Elfving, Presiding Judge
CaseNo.1-99-CV-786804

DVD COpy CONTROL ASSOCIATION'S

NOTICE OF MOTION TO DISMISS APPEAL FOR MOOTNESS

WEn...GOTSHAL& MANGESUP ~ GOTSHAL& MANGES LLP

JARED B. BOBROW ROBERTG. SUGARMAN.
(BarNo. 133712) GREGORYS.COLEMAN..
CHRISTOPHERJ. COX 767 Fifth Avenue
(BarNo. 151650) New Yark, New Yark 101S3
KIMBERLY A. SCHMITT Telephone:(212) 310-8000
(Bar No. 203600) Facsimile: (212) 310-8007
201 Redwood ShoresParkway
Redwood Shores,California 94065
Telephone: (650) 802-3000
Facsimile: (650) 802-3100

Attorneys for Plaintlff~Respondent

DVD COpy CONTROL ASSOCIATION, INC.

NYI :\IDJ')4'04'()fTIO4!.D0C\i211 LCXlJ3

J~ 22- 2004 15:01 ~r-!i:i 415 433 6382 P..63/11

Pursuant to California Ru1esof Court 41, DVD Copy Control

Association,Inc. ("DVD CCA") herebyrespectfullyrequeststhat this Courtissue

an order dismissing as moot the appealnow pending in the above-captionedmatter

(the "Appeal").

1 The Appeal was brought by Bunner to contest an order granting

in part DVD CCA'5 requestfor a preliminaryinjunctionagainstBunnerand

others;

2. PJaintiffDVD CCA hasnow voluntarily dismissedthe

complaintin the superiorcourt,therebyextinguishingthe preliminaryinjunction;

3. The issuebeforethis Court- whetherthe preliminaryinjunction

was correctly issued- is therefore moot.

WHEREFORE,DVD CCA herebyrequeststhat this Court issuean

orderdismissingasmoot the appealcurrentlypendingbeforeit in this matter.

Dated:January21,2004.
.
WEn..,GOTSHAL& MANGESLLP
Silicon Valley Office
201 Redwood ShoresParkway
Redwood Shores,CA 94065
Tel~hone: (650) 802-3000
FacsImile: (650) 802-3100

IT IS SO ORDERED

NY! "'2~~$J.IO4IQF'r*o.lDOC\a718.~ 2
JAN-22-2004 15:01 ~~r 415 433 6382 P.04/11

Appellate CaseNo.: 8021153

COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

slXm APPELLATE DISTRICT

DVD COpy CONTROL

ASSOCIATION, INC.,

PlaiDtiffs- Respo n den t,

v.

ANDREW BUNNER

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the Superior Court of the Stateof California

County of SantaClara, Honorable William J. Elfving, Presiding Judge
CaseNo. CV-786804

MEMORANDUM OF POINfS AND AUTHORITIES IN SUPPORTOF

DVD COpy CONTROL ASSOCIATION'S MOTION TO DISMISS
APPEAL AS MOOT

WEn..,GOTSHAL& MANGESUP WE~ GOTSHAL& MANORSLLP

JARED B. BOBROW ROBERTG. SUGARMAN.
GREGORYS. COLEMAN..
(BarNo. 133712)
CHR.ISTOPHERJ. COX BETH L. LEMBERGER ..
(BarNo. 151650) 767Fifth Avenue
KIMBERLY A. SCHMI1T New York, New York 10153
(Bar No. 203600) Telephone:(212) 310-8000
201 Redwood ShoresParkway Facsimile:(212)310--8007
Redwood Shores,California 94065
TelephoD~: (650) 802-3000
Facsimile: (650) 802-3100

Attorneys for Plaintiff-Respondent

DVD COpy CONTROL ASSOCIATION, INC.

MYI;\I ZJ3$$4~~I.~a7"~
J~ 22- 2004 15:01 ~tF 415 433 ~ P.E/11

Pursuantto Rule 41 of the California Rules of Court, DVD Copy

Control Association,Inc. ("DVD CCA") by andthroughthe undersignedcounsel

herebysubmitsthis Memorandumof PointsandAuthoritiesin Supportof its

Motion to Dismissthe Appealin the above-captioned

matterasmoot.

I. The Appeal Should Be DismissedAs Moot

them asmoot whenthe underlyingsuperiorcourt actionis resolvedor dismissed)

Creek Care Center. 108 CaJ.App.4th13. 133 CaJ.Rptr.2d (5th Dist. 2003);

People v. Aurelio R, 167 Cal.App.3d 52,212 Cal.Rptr. 868 (2nd Dist. 1985).1

The appealnow beforethis Court wasbroughtby Bunnerto contest

the issuanceof a preliminaryinjunctionby the SuperiorCourt for SantaClara

County in the,underlyingaction. DVD CCA hasnow voluntarily dismissedthat

moot.

The dismissalof moot appealsrestson the bedrocklegal principle

that courts should not render advisory opinionsJbut only opinions on actual

controversiesripe for adjudication. Coleman v. Department of Personnel

1 ~ ~ In Re Rav GordonDavenDorl40 F.3d 298, 299-300(9th Cir. 1994);US. v.

Ford, 650 F.2d 1141) 1142-43 (9d1Cir. 1981).

)-lV1:\' JJ3.5.54'4)4IqpT#OofI.D0C\42'711.0003 2
J~22-2004 15:02 ~~ 415 433 6:E2 P.E/11

Administration, (1991) 52 Cat.3d 1102, 1126,278 Cal.Rptr. 346; Lynch v.

Superior Court (1970) 1 Cat.3d 910, 912.83 Cal.Rptr. 670; Donato v. Board of

Barber Examiners, 56 CaI.App.2d 916,133 P.2d 490 (2nd Dist. 1943); As stAted

by the court in Donato: '7he task entrustedto us is to decidecases;the rendition

of opinionsis but an incidentto the perfonnanceof thattask."

On rare occasionsappellate courts retain and decide appealsthat are

moot,but only "wherethe issuesare importantandof continuinginterest." See

Burch v. George,7 Cal.4th246,253 n.4 (1994),866P.2d92,96 n.4(dealing

addressing whether state will and trust rules were preempted byfederal ERISA

laws),. Jasperson v. Jesstca'sNail Clinic, 216 Cal.App.3d 1099,265 Cal.Rptr. 30

(dealingwith d1evalidity of AIDS anti-discriminationstatutes);Derondev. The

Regents Of The University Of California, 28 Cat.3d 875,625 P.2d 220, 172

CaJ.Rptr.677 (1981)(dealingwith affinnative actionin collegeadmissions).That

is not the casehere. The issuesto be resolvedon this appealdealwith the

particularfactsof this particularcase--(i) whetherth~degreeof public

dissemination of the uade secretswhich are the subject of the injunction issued

below had extinguishedtheirtradesecretstatus;(ii) whetherthe efforts of the

plaintiff in this caseto preservethe secrecyof the tradesecretswere adequate;and

(Iii) whetherthis defendantknew or hadreasonto know that the tradesecretshe

publishedwere obtainedby impropermeans.Theseissuesarenot "important and

of continuing interest." .Moreover, this caseis only at the preliminary injunction

NYI ,"23~SS1~~ L~71 &.0003 3

J~ 22- 2004 15:02 ~lrj::- 415 433 ~ P.07/11

stage. As a resu1tthe record.necessarily.

is not aswell developedaswould be a

recordafter discoveryanda trial on the merits. This court shouldnot be reviewing

this caseon the basis of a less d1anfully developedrecord. Finally> in most of the

casesin which the courts have rendereddecisions despitethe mootnessof the

matter, it bas been at the request of both parties to the litigation. Obviously, that is

not the casehere.

ll. Conclusion

For all the foregoing reasons,it is respectfully submitted that this

appealshouldbe dismissed.

Dated:January21,2004
WElL, GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP
SiliconValley Office
201 Redwood ShoresParkway
Redwood Shores.CA 94065
Telephone:

By:
CHRISTOPHER. J. 151650)
ROBERTG. SUGARMAN
GEOFFREYD. BERMAN
WBll.., GOTSHAL & MANGES LLP
767Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10153

Attorneysfor Plaintiff
DVD COpy CONTROLASSOCIATION,INC.

N...I;\I~"'-~I.~J71'.~ -4
 JF:f'.j-22- 2004 15:03 BD-'~ 415 433 ~ P.19.111

1. : I
8. (1) l'~J WIU'Iprejucice (2) GJ WlI1outprejudce

b. (1) Cj:J COmplaint (2) Petili>n 0

(3) [~~I Cross-compialntfiled by (name): on (dste):
(4) 1_,_1Cro68-complaintfiledby (n8me): on (date):
(5) L,.' J Entireactionof all pattiesandall causesofa~n
(6) [-" ] Other (Speclfy):-

Date: January 21, 2004

Christocher J. Cox. Es'l. .

(T'I'PE OR PR8ft ~ a:- l:.xJA~ D PMTYwmiOur A11'OIfEV) Attorneyor partywitIOutattorneyfor: DVD Copy
Assn. Inc.
. If dielnl8s8l ~818d is of cpccWied paIb ~Iy. of lpedlled ~ of
~n ally. « of 8ped11ed~~ ~Iy. 10 ... end ~ [iJ Plaintiff/Pelitioner D Oefendant/Re&pondent
the pa.-os.~SM of 8dXJn.or 0tas8.a...~-~ to b8 ~ 0 Cross-complalnant
2. TO THE CLERK~~8-8bove disnissalls herebygiven...
Date: ~

('\'YP! ~ ~HT NAMEOf' L~ TTONtEY oPARTY WITHOUT ATT~ Attorney or party without attorney for:
.. If . ~;1IIInt - or ~ (F.~1y Law) ~ .."...,.
r~8f - Is 011 ... tie ~ far" ~ C~)
mwt IigrI ~ ~ It ~r8d by CCId8
at a:vI PIOC8d...eec8on C-:JPlaintiff/Petitioner 0 Defendant/Respondent
581(i) fXO) CJ Cross-complainant
3. , . . JAN 2 1 2004
4. r,- J Dismissalenteredon (date): as to only (name):
5. r' ".1Dismissalnot entered as requestedfor thefollowingreasons(specify):

8.(/j 8. Attorneyor partywithoutattomeynoOOed on (date):IAN . 1 '004

b. Atklmey or partywithoutattorneynot rX>tified.FiUn~r>I~ IIII~ ~ ~id!..
r :Ja copy to confOrn1 r~
meansto ,..um conformedcopy :~rOIrI .

Date: JAM . 12004 Clerk.by

VI'" &ecutjve
Omcer/CJerk

~ by1M

~
FCJ1T\
~~~~~ REQUEST FOR DISMISSAL
9IaW)CS)~.~1. 18871
..~ FOIm