JEAN P. ROSENBLUTH, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff SRK Technology LLC and Defendant Snap, Inc. ("the Parties")
This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists, source code, and other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary information for which the parties believe special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential business practices, source code and technical documentation, or other confidential research, development, or commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this case.
THEREFORE, it is hereby stipulated among the Parties and ORDERED that:
1. Each Party may designate as confidential for protection under this Order, in whole or in part, any document, information or material that constitutes or includes, in whole or in part, confidential or proprietary information or trade secrets of the Party or a Third Party to whom the Party reasonably believes it owes an obligation of confidentiality with respect to such document, information or material ("Protected Material"). Protected Material shall be designated by the Party producing it by affixing a legend or stamp on such document, information or material as follows: "CONFIDENTIAL, "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or "RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE." The words "CONFIDENTIAL, "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or "RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE" shall be placed clearly on each page of the Protected Material (except deposition and hearing transcripts) for which such protection is sought.
2. For digital files being produced, the producing Party may mark each viewable page or image with the appropriate designation, and mark the medium, container, and/or communication in which the digital files were contained. In the event that original documents are produced for inspection, the original documents shall be presumed "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" during the inspection and redesignated, as appropriate during the copying process. Where electronic files and documents are produced in native electronic format, such electronic files and documents shall be designated for protection under this Order by appending to the file names or designators information indicating whether the file contains "CONFIDENTIAL," "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" or "RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE," material, or shall use any other reasonable method for so designating Protected Materials produced in electronic format. When electronic files or documents are printed for use at deposition, in a court proceeding, or for provision in printed form to an expert or consultant pre-approved pursuant to Paragraph 12, the party printing the electronic files or documents shall affix a legend to the printed document corresponding to the designation of the Designating Party and including the production number and designation associated with the native file. No one shall seek to use in this litigation a .tiff, .pdf or other image format version of a document produced in native file format without first (1) providing a copy of the image format version to the producing Party so that the producing Party can review the image to ensure that no information has been altered, and (2) obtaining the consent of the producing Party, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld.
3. For deposition and hearing transcripts, the words CONFIDENTIAL," "RESTRICTED-ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or "RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE shall be placed on the cover page of the transcript (if not already present on the cover page of the transcript when received from the court reporter) by each attorney receiving a copy of the transcript after that attorney receives notice of the designation of some or all of that transcript as "CONFIDENTIAL," "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or "RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE." In the event a deposition is videotaped, the original and all copies of the videotape shall be marked by the video technician to indicate that the contents of the videotape are subject to this Protective Order, substantially along the lines of "This videotape contains confidential testimony used in this case and is not to be viewed or the contents thereof to be displayed or revealed except pursuant to the terms of the operative Protective Order in this matter or pursuant to written stipulation of the parties." It shall be the responsibility of the Party that designates the deposition as confidential to inform the videographer of the requirements in this Paragraph.
4. Any document produced in connection with infringement contentions or invalidity contentions before issuance of this Order in connection with the designation "Confidential" or "Confidential — Outside Attorneys' Eyes Only" shall receive the same treatment as if designated "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" under this Order, unless and until such document is redesignated to have a different classification under this Order.
5. With respect to documents, information or material designated "CONFIDENTIAL, "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or "RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE" ("DESIGNATED MATERIAL"),
6. A designation of Protected Material (i.e., "CONFIDENTIAL," "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or "RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE") may be made at any time. Inadvertent or unintentional production of documents, information or material that has not been designated as DESIGNATED MATERIAL shall not be deemed a waiver in whole or in part of a claim for confidential treatment. Any party that inadvertently or unintentionally produces Protected Material without designating it as DESIGNATED MATERIAL may request destruction of that Protected Material by notifying the recipient(s), as soon as reasonably possible after the producing Party becomes aware of the inadvertent or unintentional disclosure, and providing replacement Protected Material that is properly designated. The recipient(s) shall then destroy all copies of the inadvertently or unintentionally produced Protected Materials and any documents, information or material derived from or based thereon.
7. "CONFIDENTIAL" documents, information and material may be disclosed only to the following persons, except upon receipt of the prior written consent of the designating party, upon order of the Court, or as set forth in paragraph 15 herein:
8. A Party shall designate documents, information or material as "CONFIDENTIAL" only upon a good faith belief that the documents, information or material contains confidential or proprietary information or trade secrets of the Party or a Third Party to whom the Party reasonably believes it owes an obligation of confidentiality with respect to such documents, information or material.
9. Documents, information or material produced pursuant to any discovery request in this Action, including but not limited to Protected Material designated as DESIGNATED MATERIAL, shall be used by the Parties only in the litigation of this Action and shall not be used for any other purpose. Any person or entity who obtains access to DESIGNATED MATERIAL or the contents thereof pursuant to this Order shall not make any copies, duplicates, extracts, summaries or descriptions of such DESIGNATED MATERIAL or any portion thereof except as may be reasonably necessary in the litigation of this Action. Any such copies, duplicates, extracts, summaries or descriptions shall be classified DESIGNATED MATERIALS and subject to all of the terms and conditions of this Order.
10. To the extent a producing Party believes that certain Protected Material qualifying to be designated CONFIDENTIAL is so sensitive that its dissemination deserves even further limitation, the producing Party may designate such Protected Material "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or to the extent such Protected Material includes computer source code (meaning computer code, scripts, assembly, binaries, object code, source code listings and descriptions of source code, object code listings and descriptions of object code, and/or live data
11. For Protected Material designated RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY, access to, and disclosure of, such Protected Material shall be limited to: individuals listed in Paragraphs 7(a-b), 7(e-g) and 7(i-j), provided, however, that access by individuals pursuant to Paragraph 7(a-b, e) be limited to individuals who exercise no competitive decision-making authority on behalf of the client, and, with respect to material produced by the Plaintiff, not more than two (2) in-house counsel of the receiving Party under paragraph 7(c), provided that access by in-house counsel pursuant to this Paragraph be limited to in-house counsel who exercise no competitive decision-making authority on behalf of the client and that before access is given, the in-house counsel has completed the Undertaking attached as Appendix A hereto and the same is served upon the producing Party at least seven (7) days before access to the Protected Material is to be given to that in-house counsel to object to and notify the receiving Party in writing that it objects to disclosure of Protected Material to the in-house counsel. The Parties agree to promptly confer and use good faith to resolve any such objection within seven (7) days following the objection. If the Parties are unable to resolve any objection, the objecting Party may file a motion with the Court under Local Rule 37 within ten (10) days of the notice, or within such other time as the Parties may agree, seeking a protective order with respect to the proposed disclosure. If relief is not sought from the Court within that time, the objection shall be deemed withdrawn. If relief is sought, designated materials shall not be disclosed to the in-house counsel in question until the Court resolves the objection. With respect to material that is produced by the Defendant, no in-house counsel of the receiving party may have access to Protected Material designated RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY.
12. For Protected Material designated RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE, the following additional restrictions apply:
13. Absent written consent by the producing Party, any attorney representing a Party, whether in-house or outside counsel, and any person associated with a Party and permitted to receive the other Party's Protected Material that is designated RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY and/or RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE (collectively "HIGHLY SENSITIVE MATERIAL"), who obtains, receives, has access to, or otherwise learns, in whole or in part, the other Party's HIGHLY SENSITIVE MATERIAL under this Order shall not (i) prepare, prosecute, supervise, or assist in the preparation or prosecution of any patent application before any foreign or domestic agency, including the United States Patent and Trademark Office relating to audio/video messaging, or otherwise pertaining to the field of invention of the patents-in-suit, on behalf of the receiving Party or its acquirer, successor, predecessor, or Affiliate
14. DESIGNATED MATERIAL must be stored and maintained by a receiving Party at a location in the United States and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order. DESIGNATED MATERIAL may not be exported outside the United States or released to any foreign national (even if within the United States).
15. Nothing in this Order shall require production of documents, information or other material that a Party contends is protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege, the work product doctrine, or other privilege, doctrine, or immunity. If documents, information or other material subject to a claim of attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine, or other privilege, doctrine, or immunity is inadvertently or unintentionally produced, such production shall in no way prejudice or otherwise constitute a waiver of, or estoppel as to, any such privilege, doctrine, or immunity. Any Party that inadvertently or unintentionally produces documents, information or other material it reasonably believes are protected under the attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine, or other privilege, doctrine, or immunity may obtain the return of such documents, information or other material by promptly notifying the recipient(s) and providing a privilege log for the inadvertently or unintentionally produced documents, information or other material. The recipient(s) shall gather and return all copies of such documents, information or other material to the producing Party, except for any pages containing privileged or otherwise protected markings by the recipient(s), which pages shall instead be destroyed and certified as such to the producing Party. After receiving notice of the inadvertently or unintentionally produced material referred to herein, the receiving Party shall not access or view the inadvertently or unintentionally produced material. The information on the Privilege Log shall be sufficient for the receiving Party to describe the nature of the material in any motion to compel production. This order shall be interpreted to provide the maximum protection allowed by the Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d).
16. No Party is required to identify on its respective privilege log any document or communication dated after the filing of the Complaint. The parties shall exchange their respective privilege logs at a time to be agreed upon by the parties following the production of documents, or as otherwise ordered by the Court.
17. Nothing in this Protective Order shall be construed to prevent counsel from advising their clients with respect to this case based in whole or in part upon DESIGNATED MATERIAL, provided counsel does not disclose the DESIGNATED MATERIAL itself except as provided in this Order.
18. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(4)(B), no draft expert reports, notes, outlines, or disclosures leading up to a final expert report are discoverable in whatever form unless otherwise ordered by the Court. In addition, where a Party retains independent consultants or experts to further technical or consulting services or to give testimony with respect to the subject matter of this action, the following materials will be deemed to be privileged materials or materials otherwise protected from production based on a claim of privilege (attorney-client, work product, or other privilege) and thus not discoverable:
19. There shall be no disclosure of any DESIGNATED MATERIAL by any person authorized to have access thereto to any person who is not authorized for such access under this Order. The Parties are hereby ORDERED to safeguard all such documents, information and material to protect against disclosure to any unauthorized persons or entities.
20. Nothing in this Protective Order shall prevent or restrict a producing Party's own disclosure or use of its own DESIGNATED MATERIAL for any purpose. Nothing in this Order shall restrict in any way the use or disclosure of DESIGNATED MATERIAL by a receiving Party: (i) that is or has become publicly known through no fault of the receiving Party; (ii) that is lawfully acquired by or known to the receiving Party independent of the producing Party; (iii) previously produced, disclosed and/or provided by the producing Party to the receiving Party or a non-party without an obligation of confidentiality and not by inadvertence or mistake; (iv) with the consent of the producing Party; or (v) pursuant to order of the Court.
21. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to prejudice any Party's right to use any DESIGNATED MATERIAL in taking testimony at any deposition or hearing provided that the DESIGNATED MATERIAL is only disclosed to a person(s) who is: (i) eligible to have access to the DESIGNATED MATERIAL by virtue of his or her employment with the designating party, (ii) identified in the DESIGNATED MATERIAL as an author, addressee, or copy recipient of such information, (iii) although not identified as an author, addressee, or copy recipient of such DESIGNATED MATERIAL, has, in the ordinary course of business, seen such DESIGNATED MATERIAL, (iv) a current or former officer, director or employee of the producing Party or a current or former officer, director or employee of a company affiliated with the producing Party; (v) counsel for a Party, including outside counsel and in-house counsel (subject to Paragraphs 11-12 of this Order); (vi) an independent contractor, consultant, and/or expert retained for the purpose of this litigation; (vii) court reporters and videographers; (viii) the Court; or (ix) other persons entitled hereunder to access to DESIGNATED MATERIAL. DESIGNATED MATERIAL shall not be disclosed to any other persons unless prior authorization is obtained from counsel representing the producing Party or from the Court.
22. Parties may, at the deposition or hearing or within thirty (30) days after receipt of a deposition or hearing transcript, designate the deposition or hearing transcript or any portion thereof as "CONFIDENTIAL," "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEY' EYES ONLY," or "RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE" pursuant to this Order. Until expiration of the 30-day period, the entire deposition or hearing transcript shall be treated as "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY". Any Party that wishes to disclose the transcript, or information contained therein, may provide written notice of its intent to treat the transcript as non-confidential, after which time, any Party that wants to maintain any portion of the transcript as confidential must designate the confidential portions within fourteen (14) days, or else the transcript may be treated as non-confidential.
23. Nothing in this Order shall be construed to prejudice any Party's right to use any DESIGNATED MATERIAL in court or in any court filing with the consent of the producing Party or by order of the Court, provided that such filing is made under seal.
24. Any DESIGNATED MATERIAL that is filed with the Court shall be filed under seal and shall remain under seal until further order of the Court. A party seeking to file DESIGNATED MATERIAL with the Court must file an Application for Leave to File Under Seal under Local Rule 79-5 or 79-6, as applicable.
25. The Order applies to pretrial discovery. Nothing in this Order shall be deemed to prevent the Parties from introducing any DESIGNATED MATERIAL into evidence at the trial of this Action, or from using any information contained in DESIGNATED MATERIAL at the trial of this Action, subject to any pretrial order issued by this Court.
26. A Party may request in writing to the other Party that the designation given to any DESIGNATED MATERIAL be modified or withdrawn and state the grounds for the objection. The objecting Party shall have the burden of conferring either in person, in writing, or by telephone with the producing Party claiming protection (as well as any other interested party) in a good faith effort to resolve the dispute. If the designating Party does not agree to redesignation within ten (10) days of receipt of the written request, the requesting Party may apply to the Court for relief. Upon any such application to the Court, the burden shall be on the designating Party to show why its classification is proper. Such application shall be treated procedurally as a motion to compel pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 37, subject to the Rule's provisions relating to sanctions. In making such application, the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules of the Court shall be met. Pending the Court's determination of the application, the designation of the designating Party shall be maintained.
27. Each outside consultant or expert to whom DESIGNATED MATERIAL is disclosed in accordance with the terms of this Order shall be advised by counsel of the terms of this Order, shall be informed that he or she is subject to the terms and conditions of this Order, and shall sign an acknowledgment that he or she has received a copy of, has read, and has agreed to be bound by this Order. A copy of the acknowledgment form is attached as Appendix A.
28. To the extent that any discovery is taken of persons who are not Parties to this Action ("Third Parties") and in the event that such Third Parties contended the discovery sought involves trade secrets, confidential business information, or other proprietary information, then such Third Parties may agree to be bound by this Order.
29. To the extent that discovery or testimony is taken of Third Parties, the Third Parties may designate as "CONFIDENTIAL," "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or "RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE" any documents, information or other material, in whole or in part, produced or given by such Third Parties. The Third Parties shall have ten (10) days after production of such documents, information or other materials to make such a designation. Until that time period lapses or until such a designation has been made, whichever occurs sooner, all documents, information or other material so produced or given shall be treated as "CONFIDENTIAL" in accordance with this Order.
30. Within ninety (90) days of final termination of this Action, including any appeals, all DESIGNATED MATERIAL, including all copies, duplicates, abstracts, indexes, summaries, descriptions, and excerpts or extracts thereof (excluding excerpts or extracts incorporated into any privileged memoranda of the Parties and materials which have been admitted into evidence in this Action), shall at the producing Party's election either be returned to the producing Party or be destroyed. The receiving Party shall verify the return or destruction by affidavit furnished to the producing Party, upon the producing Party's request. Notwithstanding the provisions for return of DESIGNATED MATERIAL, outside counsel may retain one set of pleadings, correspondence and attorney and consultant work product (but not document productions) for archival purposes, but must return any pleadings, correspondence, and consultant work product that contain Source Code Material.
31. Even after the termination of this case, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a producing Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs.
32. The failure to designate documents, information or material in accordance with this Order and the failure to object to a designation at a given time shall not preclude the filing of a motion at a later date seeking to impose such designation or challenging the propriety thereof. The entry of this Order and/or the production of documents, information and material hereunder shall in no way constitute a waiver of any objection to the furnishing thereof, all such objections being hereby preserved.
33. Any Party knowing or believing that any other party is in violation of or intends to violate this Order and has raised the question of violation or potential violation with the opposing party and has been unable to resolve the matter by agreement may move the Court for such relief as may be appropriate in the circumstances. Pending disposition of the motion by the Court, the Party alleged to be in violation of or intending to violate this Order shall discontinue the performance of and/or shall not undertake the further performance of any action alleged to constitute a violation of this Order. In the event of a disclosure of any DESIGNATED MATERIAL pursuant to this Order, including any inadvertent loss or misplacement of that material, to any person or persons not authorized to receive such disclosure under this Protective Order, the Party responsible for having made such disclosure, and each Party with knowledge thereof, shall immediately notify counsel for the producing Party whose DESIGNATED MATERIAL has been disclosed and provide to such counsel all known relevant information concerning the nature and circumstances of the disclosure. The responsible disclosing Party shall also promptly take all reasonable measures to retrieve the improperly disclosed DESIGNATED MATERIAL and to ensure that no further or greater unauthorized disclosure and/or use thereof is made. Unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure does not change the status of Discovery Material or waive the right to hold the disclosed document or information as Protected.
34. If at any time DESIGNATED MATERIAL is subpoenaed by any court, arbitral, administrative, or legislative body, the Party to whom the subpoena or other request is directed shall immediately give prompt written notice thereof to every Party who has produced such DESIGNATED MATERIAL and to its counsel and shall provide each such Party with an opportunity to move for a protective order regarding the production of DESIGNATED MATERIAL implicated by the subpoena.
35. Production of DESIGNATED MATERIAL by each of the Parties shall not be deemed a publication of the documents, information and material (or the contents thereof) produced so as to void or make voidable whatever claim the Parties may have as to the proprietary and confidential nature of the documents, information or other material or its contents.
36. Nothing in this Order shall be construed to effect an abrogation, waiver or limitation of any kind on the rights of each of the Parties to assert any applicable discovery or trial privilege.
37. This Order shall be binding upon the Parties, their attorneys, and their successors, executors, personal representatives, administrators, heirs, legal representatives, assigns, subsidiaries, divisions, employees, agents, retained consultants and experts, and any persons or organizations over which they have direct control.
38. Each of the Parties shall also retain the right to file a motion with the Court (a) to modify this Order to allow disclosure of DESIGNATED MATERIAL to additional persons or entities if reasonably necessary to prepare and present this Action and (b) to apply for additional protection of DESIGNATED MATERIAL.
I, ___________________________, declarethat:
2. I have received a copy of the Protective Order in this action. I have carefully read and understand the provisions of the Protective Order.
3. I will comply with all of the provisions of the Protective Order. I will hold in confidence, will not disclose to anyone not qualified under the Protective Order, and will use only for purposes of this action any information designated as "CONFIDENTIAL," "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or "RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE" that is disclosed to me.
4. Promptly upon termination of these actions, I will return all documents and things designated as "CONFIDENTIAL," "RESTRICTED — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or "RESTRICTED CONFIDENTIAL SOURCE CODE" that came into my possession, and all documents and things that I have prepared relating thereto, to the outside counsel for the party by whom I am employed.
5. I hereby submit to the jurisdiction of this Court for the purpose of enforcement of the Protective Order in this action. I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.