Nicholas A. Ventura v. IQVIA INC., et al.

7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA NICHOLAS A. VENTURA, 10 Case No. 25-cv-09163-RS Plaintiff, v. ORDER DENYING MOTION TO 12 COMPEL DISCOVERY RESPONSES IQVIA INC., et al., Defendants.

15 On December 13, 2025, pro se Plaintiff filed a Motion to Compel Responses to Special Interrogatories. He also seeks attorneys’ fees as sanctions. Plaintiff states that he served a first set of special interrogatories on Defendants “effectuated via electronic service through the Court’s CM/ECF system” on November 2 and 3, 2025. Dkt. 54 at 4; Dkt. 55, Declaration of Nicholas A.

19 Ventura, ¶ 3. However, there is no such filing on this court’s docket, and all four Defendants assert they were not properly served. Dkt. 67 at 3-4; Dkt. 69 at 6. Rather, Exhibit A to Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel shows the discovery requests were served via the electronic case management system for the San Francisco Superior Court more than a week after the case was removed to federal court. Dkt. 54, Ex. A. Since the interrogatories were not properly served, see Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(b), 33, Defendants are not obligated to respond. Moreover, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(d)(1), parties may not seek discovery before holding a Rule 26(f) conference. See Rovio Entertainment Ltd. v. Royal Plush Toys, Inc., 907 F.Supp.2d 1086, 1099 (N.D. Cal. 2012).

27 Defendants represent that the conference the parties had on November 25, 2025 did not meet the 3. Accordingly, Plaintiff's motion to compel and request for sanctions are denied.!

3 || ITISSO ORDERED.

5 Dated: January 12, 2026 # RICHARD SEEBORG 7 Chief United States District Judge it 18 Pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-1(b), the motion is suitable for disposition without oral argument, 27 and the hearing set for January 29, 2026 is vacated.

28 << SHORT ORDER TITLE >> CASE No. 25-cv-09163-RS