AUTUMN D. SPAETH, Magistrate Judge.
Plaintiff Tissue Anchor Innovations, LLC, ("TAI") and Defendants Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center ("FVRH"), Los Alamitos Medical Center ("LAMC"), and Boston Scientific Corporation ("BSC") (FVRH, LAMC, and BSC together, "Defendants") (TAI and Defendants, the "Parties" or "parties") submit this Stipulated Protective Order for entry by the Court.
WHEREAS, it may be necessary or desirable to take discovery of information which is believed to be confidential and proprietary by the holder thereof;
WHEREAS, the parties hereto desire to obtain a protective order to prevent dissemination and unnecessary disclosure of such information on the public record;
WHEREAS, such information likely will include, among other things, information about sensitive products and/or services, proprietary design and development materials of products and/or services, source code, strategic decision-making information, and marketing and sales information ("Protected Material" as per Section 2.15 below);
IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED, and subject to the Court's approval, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 26(c), that the following provisions shall govern the handling of such confidential information and documents in these proceedings.
Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles.
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
2.10
2.11
2.12
2.13
2.14
2.15
2.16
The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. However, the protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the following information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of publication not involving a violation of this Order, including becoming part of the public record through trial or otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source who obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to the Designating Party. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order.
Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law and the time limits for filing a petition for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States if applicable.
5.1
If it comes to a Designating Party's attention 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 Designating Party must promptly notify all other parties that it is withdrawing the mistaken designation.
5.2
Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
(a)
(b)
Parties shall give the other parties notice if they reasonably expect a deposition or other pretrial or trial proceeding to include Protected Material so that the other parties can ensure that only authorized individuals who have signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A) are present at those proceedings. The use of a document as an exhibit at a deposition or other pretrial or trial proceedings shall not in any way affect its designation as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY."
Transcripts containing Protected Material shall have an obvious legend on the title page that the transcript contains Protected Material. Any transcript that was not designated on the record pursuant to the first paragraph of section 5.2(b) above shall be treated during the 21-day period for designation as if it had been designated "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" in its entirety. After the expiration of that period or as of such earlier time that such transcript is designated, the transcript shall be treated only as actually designated.
(c)
5.3
6.1
6.2
6.3
7.1
Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order.
7.2
(a) the Receiving Party's Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this litigation;
(b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A);
(c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A);
(d) the Court and its personnel;
(e) court reporters and their staff;
(f) professional jury or trial consultants including mock jurors who have signed a confidentiality agreement, and Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A);
(g) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary, with the consent of the Designating Party or as ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material must be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
(h) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information.
7.3
(a) the Receiving Party's Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this litigation;
(b) Designated House Counsel of the Receiving Party (1) who has no involvement in competitive decision-making, (2) to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, (3) who has signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A), and (4) as to whom the procedures set forth in paragraph 7.4(a)(1), below, have been followed;
(c) Experts of the Receiving Party (1) to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, (2) who have signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A), and (3) as to whom the procedures set forth in paragraph 7.4(a)(2), below, have been followed;
(d) the Court and its personnel;
(e) court reporters and their staff,
(f) professional jury or trial consultants including mock jurors who have signed a confidentiality agreement, and Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A); and
(g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information.
7.4
(a)(1) Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or agreed to in writing by the Designating Party, a Party that seeks to disclose to Designated House Counsel any information or item that has been designated "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" pursuant to paragraph 7.3(b) first must make a written request to the Designating Party that (1) sets forth the full name of the Designated House Counsel and the city and state of his or her residence, and (2) describes the Designated House Counsel's current and reasonably foreseeable future primary job duties and responsibilities in sufficient detail to determine if House Counsel is involved, or may become involved, in any competitive decision-making.
(a)(2) Unless otherwise ordered by the Court or agreed to in writing by the Designating Party, a Party that seeks to disclose to an Expert (as defined in this Order) any information or item that has been designated "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" pursuant to paragraph 7.3 first must make a written request to the Designating Party that (1) sets forth the full name of the Expert and the city and state of his or her primary residence, (2) attaches a copy of the Expert's current resume, (3) identifies the Expert's current employer(s) and employers during the preceding five (5) years, (4) identifies each person or entity from whom the Expert has received compensation or funding for work in his or her areas of expertise or to whom the Expert has provided professional services, including in connection with a litigation, at any time during the preceding five years and the party to the litigation for whom such work was done, and (5) identifies (by name and number of the case, filing date, and location of court) any litigation in connection with which the Expert has offered expert testimony, including through a declaration, report, or testimony at a deposition or trial, during the preceding five years, and (7) identifies any patents or patent applications in which the Expert is identified as an inventor or applicant, is involved in prosecuting or maintaining, or has any pecuniary interest. If the Expert believes any of this information is subject to a confidentiality obligation to a third party, then the Expert should provide whatever information the Expert believes can be disclosed without violating any confidentiality agreements, and the Party seeking to disclose to the Expert shall be available to meet and confer with the Designating Party regarding any such engagement.
(b) A Party that makes a request and provides the information specified in the preceding respective paragraphs may disclose the subject Protected Material to the identified Designated House Counsel or Expert unless, within ten (10) days of delivering the request, the Party receives a written objection from the Designating Party. Any such objection must set forth in detail the grounds on which it is based.
(c) A Party that receives a timely written objection must meet and confer with the Designating Party (through direct voice to voice dialogue) to try to resolve the matter by agreement within seven (7) days of the written objection. If no agreement is reached, the Party opposing disclosure to Designated House Counsel or the Expert may contact the Court's chambers to schedule a hearing or teleconference in accordance with the Court's dispute resolution procedures within seven (7) days of the meet and confer. A failure to contact the Court's chambers within seven (7) days shall operate as an approval of the disclosure of the Protected Material to the identified Designated House Counsel or Expert.
In any such proceeding, the Party opposing disclosure to Designated House Counsel or the Expert shall bear the burden of proving that the risk of harm that the disclosure would entail (under the safeguards proposed) outweighs the Receiving Party's need to disclose the Protected Material to its Designated House Counsel or Expert.
Absent written consent from the Producing Party, any individual who accesses "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" information shall not be directly involved in the prosecution of patents or patent applications relating to tissue anchoring devices, including without limitation any patent or application claiming priority to or otherwise related to the patent asserted in this action, before any foreign or domestic agency, including the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("the Patent Office"). For purposes of this paragraph, "prosecution" includes drafting, amending, advising, or otherwise affecting the scope or maintenance of patent claims. To avoid any doubt, "prosecution" as used in this paragraph does not include representing a party challenging a patent before a domestic or foreign agency (including, but not limited to, a reissue protest, ex parte reexamination, inter partes reexamination, or inter partes review). An individual who has reviewed "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" information may participate in inter partes review or post-grant review proceedings for the patent asserted in this action, but may not participate or advise on any amendments to any claim language or substitution of new claims. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent any attorney from sending non-confidential prior art to an attorney involved in patent prosecution for purposes of ensuring that such prior art is submitted to the Patent Office (or any similar agency of a foreign government) to assist a patent applicant in complying with its duty of candor. Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit any attorney of record in this litigation from discussing any aspect of this case that is reasonably necessary for the prosecution or defense of any claim or counterclaim in this litigation with their client. The parties expressly agree that the Prosecution Bar shall be personal to any attorney who accesses "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" information and shall not be imputed to any other persons or attorneys at the individual's law firm. It is expressly agreed that attorneys who work on this matter without accessing "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" information shall not be restricted from engaging in prosecution on matters that otherwise fall within this Prosecution Bar. This Prosecution Bar shall begin when "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" information is first accessed by the affected individual and shall end two (2) years after final termination of this action.
9.1 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 — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" that Party must:
(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
If the Designating Party 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 — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY" before a determination by the Court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party's permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material — and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
9.2 The provisions set forth herein are not intended to, and do not, restrict in any way the procedures set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(d)(3) or (f).
(a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this action and designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY." Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
(b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non-Party's confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party's confidential information, then the Party shall:
1. promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
2. promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order in this litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the information requested;
3. make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party;
4. if the Non-Party requires that production of its confidential information by the Party subject to discovery obligations under certain terms and conditions, including the designation of its information as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," the Requested Party shall so produce, and inform the Requesting Party that the materials are so designated by the Non-Party. The Non-Party shall be deemed a "Designating Party," and shall be entitled to all of the notices, information, and rights accorded to Designating Parties pursuant to sections 6 and 7.4(a)(1), with respect to such information.
(c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court within a reasonable period of time after receiving the notice and accompanying information, including but not limited to any contractual notice period in an agreement between the Producing Party and the Non-Party covering the confidentiality and/or disclosure of the information requested, the Producing Party may produce the Non-Party's confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Producing Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court.
If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the `Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 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). A Producing Party may assert privilege or protection over produced documents at any time by notifying the Receiving Party in writing of the assertion of privilege or protection. In addition, information that contains privileged matter or attorney work product shall be returned or destroyed immediately by the Receiving Party if such information appears on its face to have been inadvertently produced or if requested. After being notified, a Receiving Party must promptly return or destroy the specified information until the claim is resolved.
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), the production of a privileged or work-product-protected document is not a waiver of privilege or protection from discovery in this case or in any other federal or state proceeding. For example, the mere production of privilege or work-product-protected documents in this case as part of a mass production is not itself a waiver in this case or any other federal or state proceeding.
13.1
13.2
13.3
13.4
13.5
Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in Section 4, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, "all Protected Material" includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected 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 Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain 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 Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce confidential information in its possession that the Party believes to be subject to any foreign privacy protections or requirements, then the Party shall promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to foreign privacy protections or requirements. The notification shall identify with reasonable particularity the foreign privacy protections or requirements that the Party believes to be applicable, and to the extent practicable without violating such protection or requirement, the factual basis for the Party's belief that the protection or requirement applies. The Parties thereafter will meet and confer regarding the basis for such assertion and the impact and compliance with any such asserted protections or requirements.
PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, IT IS SO ORDERED.
I attest that all other signatories listed, and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the filing's content and have authorized the filing.
I, _____________________________________, 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 District of the Central District of California in the case of Tissue Anchor Innovations, LLC v. Fountain Valley Regional Hospital et al, Case No. 8:19-CV-00791-JVS-ADS. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this 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 this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the District of the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective 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 Stipulated Protective Order.