JOHN D. EARLY, Magistrate Judge.
Discovery in this action is likely to involve confidential, proprietary, or private information requiring special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than this litigation. Thus, the Court enters this Protective Order. This Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery, and the protection it gives from public disclosure and use extends only to the specific material entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. This Order does not automatically authorize the filing under seal of material designated under this Order. Instead, the parties must comply with L.R. 79-5.1 if they seek to file anything under seal. This Order does not govern the use at trial of material designated under this Order.
Any party or non-party who designates information or items for protection under this Order as "CONFIDENTIAL" (a "designator") must only designate specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. To the extent practicable, only those parts of documents, items, or oral or written communications that require protection shall be designated. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Unjustified designations expose the designator to sanctions, including the Court's striking all confidentiality designations made by that designator. Designation under this Order is allowed only if the designation is necessary to protect material that, if disclosed to persons not authorized to view it, would cause competitive or other recognized harm. Material may not be designated if it has been made public, or if designation is otherwise unnecessary to protect a secrecy interest. If a designator learns that information or items that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection at all or do not qualify for the level of protection initially asserted, that designator must promptly notify all parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation.
Designation under this Order requires the designator to affix the applicable legend ("CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEY EYES ONLY") to each page that contains protected material. For testimony given in deposition or other proceeding, the designator shall specify all protected testimony and the level of protection being asserted. It may make that designation during the deposition or proceeding, or may invoke, on the record or by written notice to all parties on or before the next business day, a right to have up to 21 days from the deposition or proceeding to make its designation.
An inadvertent failure to designate does not, standing alone, waive protection under this Order. Upon timely assertion or correction of a designation, all recipients must make reasonable efforts to ensure that the material is treated according to this Order.
All challenges to confidentiality designations shall proceed under L.R. 37-1 through L.R. 37-4.
A receiving party may use designated material only for this litigation. Designated material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order.
Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the designator, a receiving party may disclose any material designated CONFIDENTIAL only to:
Unless permitted in writing by the designator, a receiving party may disclose material designated HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEY EYES ONLY without further approval only to:
Unless agreed to in writing by the designator:
Absent written consent from the designator, any individual who receives access to
HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEY EYES ONLY information shall not be involved in the prosecution of patents or patent applications concerning the field of the invention of the patents-in-suit for the receiving party or its acquirer, successor, predecessor, or other affiliate during the pendency of this action and for one year after its conclusion, including any appeals. "Prosecution" means drafting, amending, advising on the content of, or otherwise affecting the scope or content of patent claims of specifications. These prohibitions shall not preclude counsel form participating in reexamination or inter partes review proceedings to challenge or defend the validity of any patent, but counsel may not participate in the drafting of amended claims in any such proceedings.
This Order in no way excuses non-compliance with a lawful subpoena or court order. The purpose of the duties described in this section is to alert the interested parties to the existence of this Order and to give the designator an opportunity to protect its confidentiality interests in the court where the subpoena or order issued.
If a party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEY EYES ONLY, that party must:
If the designator timely seeks a protective order, the party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEY EYES ONLY before a determination by the court where the subpoena or order issued, unless the party has obtained the designator's permission. The designator shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection of its confidential material in that court.
If a receiving party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed designated material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Order, it must immediately (1) notify in writing the designator of the unauthorized disclosures, (2) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the designated material, (3) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (4) use reasonable efforts to have such person or persons execute the Agreement to Be Bound (Exhibit A).
When a producing party gives notice that certain inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the receiving parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege review pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e).
Without written permission from the designator or a Court order, a party may not file in the public record in this action any designated material. A party seeking to file under seal any designated material must comply with L.R. 79-5.1. Filings may be made under seal only pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific material at issue. The fact that a document has been designated under this Order is insufficient to justify filing under seal. Instead, parties must explain the basis for confidentiality of each document sought to be filed under seal. Because a party other than the designator will often be seeking to file designated material, cooperation between the parties in preparing, and in reducing the number and extent of, requests for under seal filing is essential. If a
Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, each party shall return all designated material to the designator or destroy such material, including all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any designated material. The receiving party must submit a written certification to the designator by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the designated material that was returned or destroyed, and (2) affirms that the receiving party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the designated material. This provision shall not prevent counsel from retaining an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain designated material. Any such archival copies remain subject to this Order.
The filing attorney attests that she has obtained concurrence regarding the filing of this document from the signatories to this document.
I, ________________________ [print or type full name], of _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on February 23, 2018 in the case of Abbey Rooney v. Signostics Inc., et al., Case No. 8:17-cv-01865-AG-JDE. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment for contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with this Order.
I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing this Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.
I hereby appoint _________________________ [print or type full name] of _________________________ [print or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Order.
