JEAN P. ROSENBLUTH, Magistrate Judge.
This Protective Order shall govern the handling of documents, answers to interrogatories, depositions, pleadings, exhibits, and all other information and things exchanged by the parties in this action. Disclosure and discovery activity in this action is likely to involve the production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than the prosecution, defense or resolution of this litigation is warranted. The Protective Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures, productions or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled under applicable legal principles to treatment as confidential. The Protective Order creates no entitlement to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and reflects the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal.
It is ORDERED as follows:
1. This Order shall govern:
The items listed in (a)-(c) above shall be referred to as "Discovery Materials."
2. Any party to this litigation shall have the right to designate Discovery Materials as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" pursuant to the terms of this Protective Order. Discovery Materials designated CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL will be referred to as "Designated Materials." Any third-party producing documents pursuant to a subpoena or otherwise may designate Discovery Materials pursuant to this Protective Order only if an authorized representative of the producing third-party executes a written acknowledgment, substantially in the form of Exhibit 1 annexed to this Protective Order, that the non-party has reviewed a copy of the Protective Order, will comply with its terms, and will submit to the jurisdiction of this Court for adjudication of any dispute regarding that third-party's designations under the Protective Order. All designations must be made in good faith and on reasonable belief that the designation accurately reflects the definition of CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL materials.
Information") shall be used by the party receiving such information solely for purposes related to this litigation and may be disclosed only to the following persons:
4. Information designated as "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" ("Highly Confidential Information") shall be used by the party receiving such information solely for the purposes related to litigation between the parties and may be disclosed only to the following persons:
5. Notwithstanding paragraphs 3 and 4 above, a Party may disclose CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL information to (i) any employee of the Designating Party; (ii) former employees of the Designating Party, so long as they were employed by the Designating Party as of the date of the document or thing, and the Party has a reasonable belief that the employee was aware or had knowledge of the subject matter contained in the document or thing during their employment; or (iii) any person who authored or received the information in whole or in part, including as indicated on the face of the document or thing.
6. Persons who are authorized to review Designated Materials and are subject to this order shall hold such materials in confidence and shall not disclose their contents, either verbally or in writing, to any person not otherwise authorized to receive such information under this Protective Order. Copies of Designated Materials shall be made only to the extent necessary to facilitate permitted use under this Protective Order.
7. The recipient of Designated Materials provided under this Order shall exercise the same standard of due and proper care with respect to the storage, custody, use and/or dissemination of such information as is exercised by the recipient with respect to its own proprietary information. Designated Materials shall not be copied, reproduced, summarized or abstracted, except to the extent that such copying, reproduction, summarization or abstraction is reasonably necessary for purposes related to this lawsuit. All such copies, reproductions, summaries, extracts, and abstracts shall be subject to the terms of the Order, and labeled in the same manner as the Designated Materials on which they are based.
8. In the event a Party deems it necessary or appropriate to disclose any Materials designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" to any person not specified in paragraph 3, to disclose any Discovery Material designated as "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" to any person not specified in paragraph 4 (the "Proposed Disclosure"), or to disclose any Discovery Material to any person who does not qualify under paragraph 5, that party shall notify counsel for the Designating Party in writing of: (i) the Designated Materials it wishes to disclose, and (ii) the person or persons to whom such disclosure is to be made. In the event the Disclosing Party does not consent to the Proposed Disclosure within seven (7) days of receipt of the redesignation request, the party requesting the Proposed Disclosure may petition the Court for an order permitting the Proposed Disclosure. Counsel shall obtain from all persons to whom disclosures are made pursuant to this paragraph a written acknowledgement in the form of Exhibit 1 hereto, that such person or persons have reviewed a copy of this Protective Order, will comply with its terms in all respects and will submit to the jurisdiction of this Court for adjudication of any dispute about whether such person or persons have complied with the terms of this Protective Order.
9. Disclosing parties shall designate Discovery Materials "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" as follows:
10. A Designating Party's inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" does not waive the Designating Party's right to secure protection under this Order for such materials. If the Designating Party discovers that information should have been but was not appropriately designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL," the Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties in writing in order to secure protection under this Order. Upon notification, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the Designated Materials are treated in accordance with the updated designations by the Designating Party.
11. A party who has designated information as CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL may withdraw the designation by written notification to all other parties.
12. A party shall not be obligated to challenge the propriety of a "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" designation at the time made, and failure to do so shall not preclude a subsequent challenge thereto at any time consistent with the court's scheduling order. In the event that any party to this litigation disagrees with such designation, such party shall provide to the Designating Party written notice of its disagreement with the designation. The parties shall first try to dispose of such dispute in good faith on an informal basis within ten (10) business days of notice of the disagreement unless a different time period is agreed upon by counsel. If the dispute has not been resolved within this time period, the party seeking to de-designate the information may within ten (10) business days initiate preparation of the joint stipulation pursuant to L.R. 37-2.2. Completion and filing of the joint stipulation shall be as set forth in L.R. 37-2.2. If the disputing party does not initiate preparation of the joint stipulation within that time, the objection shall be deemed waived and the information shall remain as designated by the Designating Party. The burden of proving that information has been properly designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" is on the Designating Party. Discovery Material designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" shall retain their designation until such time as either: (a) the parties expressly agree otherwise in writing, or (b) the Court orders otherwise.
13. In the event that any Designated Materials are used in any Court proceeding in connection with this litigation (other than trial), it shall not lose its "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" status through such use, and the parties shall take all steps reasonably required to protect its confidentiality during such use.
14. In the event the case proceeds to trial, a separate order must be entered by this Court governing the confidentiality of any Discovery Material designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL."
15. If Designated Materials are inadvertently disclosed to any person other than in the manner authorized by this Order, the person responsible for the disclosure must immediately bring all pertinent facts relating to such disclosure to the attention of counsel for the Designating Party and, without prejudice to any other rights and remedies of the parties, make every effort to prevent further disclosure by it or by the person who was the recipient of such information.
16. In the event any Receiving Party having possession, custody or control of any Discovery Materials provided by the Designating Party receives a subpoena or other process or order to produce in another legal proceeding the Discovery Materials, such Receiving Party shall notify counsel for the Designating Party of the subpoena or other process or order, furnish counsel for the Designating Party with a copy of said subpoena or other process or order unless prohibited by law, and cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the Designating Party whose interests may be affected. The Designating Party shall have the burden of defending against such subpoena, process or order. The Receiving Party shall be entitled to comply with the subpoena or other process or order except to the extent the Designating Party is successful in obtaining an order modifying or quashing the subpoena or other process or order.
17. Producing or receiving information designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" or otherwise complying with the terms of this Protective Order shall not:
18. This Protective Order is without prejudice to the right of any party to seek relief from the Court, upon good cause shown, from any of the provisions contained in this Protective Order.
19. Nothing contained herein shall preclude a producing entity or person from using his, her, or its own confidential information, documents, or materials in any manner he, she, or it sees fit, or from revealing such confidential information, documents, or materials to whomever he, she, or it chooses.
20. After termination of this action, the restrictions on the communication and disclosure provided for herein shall continue to be binding upon the parties and all other persons to whom Designated Materials or information contained therein have been communicated or disclosed pursuant to the provisions of this Protective Order or any other Order of this Court. The Court shall retain continuing jurisdiction to enforce the terms of this Protective Order.
21. All Designated Material subject to this Protective Order shall be returned to the Designating Parties upon termination of this action or destroyed. Termination of this action shall be taken and construed as the date forty-five (45) days following (a) the filing of a stipulated dismissal or the entry of a voluntary dismissal; (b) a final non-appealable order disposing of this case; or (c) the expiration of the time for any appeal. Upon such termination, counsel of record for the Receiving Party shall notify counsel for the Designating Party of compliance. Counsel for the Receiving Party shall make a reasonable effort to retrieve any documents or information subject to this Protective Order from any person to whom such information has been given, and shall notify counsel for the Designating Party of the failure to retrieve any such information.
Such information shall include descriptive detail of any document not returned or destroyed. Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude outside counsel from retaining after termination of this action one copy of (a) pleadings, motions, and memoranda filed with the Court; and (b) deposition, hearing and trial transcripts and exhibits, provided, however, that such counsel may not disclose retained materials that contain Designated Materials to any unauthorized person and shall keep such retained materials in a manner reflecting their confidential nature.
SO ORDERED.
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 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on ______________ in the case of EDGEWELL PERSONAL CARE BRANDS, LLC and INTERNATIONAL REFILLS COMPANY, LTD. v. MUNCHKIN, INC., Case No. 2-18-CV-03005-PSG-JPR. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of the Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to the Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.