DONNA M. RYU, Magistrate Judge.
Disclosure and discovery activity in this action may involve production of trade secrets or other confidential research, development, or commercial information, within the meaning of Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c); or other private or competitively sensitive information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation would be warranted. This Protective Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled under the applicable legal principles to confidential treatment. As set forth in Section 10, below, this 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, and is hereby incorporated by reference. This Protective Order shall not apply to the use of protected material at trial. The parties agree to meet and confer and seek Court approval in advance of trial to address appropriate limitations on the use of such material at trial.
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The protections conferred by this Protective Order cover not only Protected Material (as defined above), but also any information copied or extracted therefrom, as well as all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations thereof, plus testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or Counsel in settings that might reveal Protected Material. However, this Protective Order shall not be construed to cause any Counsel to produce, return, and/or destroy their own attorney work product, or the work product of their co-counsel.
The confidentiality obligations imposed by this Protective Order shall remain in effect, even after the termination of this litigation, until the Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or this Court orders otherwise.
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Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified, or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber or retard the case development process, or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties), expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
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 Receiving Parties that it is withdrawing or changing the mistaken designation.
5.2
Designation in conformity with this Protective Order requires:
(a)
(b)
Transcript pages containing Protected Material must be separately bound by the court reporter, who must affix to each such page the legend "CONFIDENTIAL," "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL," "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—OUTSIDE COUNSEL ONLY" as instructed by the Party or nonparty sponsoring, offering, giving or eliciting the witness' testimony.
(c)
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Increasing a designation shall be accomplished by providing written notice to all Parties identifying (by bates number or other individually identifiable information) the Disclosure or Discovery Material whose designation is to be increased. Promptly after providing such notice, the upward Designating Party shall provide re-labeled copies of the material to each Receiving Party reflecting the change in designation. The Receiving Party will replace the incorrectly designated material with the newly designated materials and will destroy the incorrectly designated materials. Any Party may object to the increased designation of Disclosure or Discovery Materials pursuant to the procedures set forth in paragraph 6 regarding challenging designations. The upward Designating Party shall bear the burden of establishing the basis for the increased designation.
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In the event that the final ruling is that the challenged material is not confidential or that its designation should be changed, the Designating Party shall reproduce copies of all materials with their designations removed or changed in accordance with the ruling within thirty (30) days at the expense of the Designating Party.
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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 Protective Order. For purposes of this Protective Order, a secure website, or other internet-based document depository with adequate security and access limited to the persons authorized under this Protective Order, shall be deemed a secure location.
The restrictions on Protected Material shall not apply to information which, at or prior to disclosure thereof in this action, is or was public knowledge as a result of publication by one having the unrestricted right to do so, or which is otherwise in the public domain. Nothing in this Protective Order shall in any way restrict the use or dissemination by a Party or third Party of its own "CONFIDENTIAL," "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL," "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL— ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—OUTSIDE COUNSEL ONLY" Protected Material.
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(a) the Receiving Party's Outside Counsel of record in this action, as well as employees of said counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this litigation;
(b) officers, directors, and employees of Parties to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the "Agreement To Be Bound by Protective Order" (Exhibit A);
(c) Experts and/or Consultants with respect to each of whom (1) disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, and (2) an "Agreement To Be Bound by Protective Order" (Exhibit A) has been signed;
(d) the Court and its personnel;
(e) stenographers, their staffs, Professional Vendors, and private mediators to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the "Agreement To Be Bound by Protective Order" (Exhibit A);
(f) the author, addressees, or recipients of the document;
(g) during their deposition, any natural person who would have likely reviewed such document during his or her employment as a result of the substantive nature of his or her employment position, or who is specifically identified in the document, or whose conduct is purported to be specifically identified in the document, or who would reasonably be expected to have knowledge of the information in the document based on the specific context;
(h) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the "Agreement To Be Bound by Protective Order" (Exhibit A), which shall be made an exhibit to the deposition transcript, or has agreed on the record to keep the information confidential and not to use it for any purpose, or has been ordered to do so; and provided further that, pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Confidential Information must be marked "Confidential" and separately bound by the court reporter and not included in the main deposition transcript and exhibit binder, and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Protective Order;
(i) participants in a focus group or mock jury who have agreed in writing to keep the information confidential and not to use it for any purpose other than the focus group, mock jury, or similar exercise, provided that such participants shall not be permitted to retain any copies of any Protected Material or to retain any notes of any Protected Material; and
(j) any other person to whom the Designating Party agrees in writing or on the record and any other person to whom the Court compels access to the Confidential Information.
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(a) the Receiving Party's Outside Counsel of record in this action, as well as employees of said counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this litigation;
(b) Experts and/or Consultants with respect to each of whom (1) disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, and (2) an "Agreement To Be Bound by Protective Order" (Exhibit A) has been signed;
(c) the Court and its personnel;
(d) stenographers, their staffs, Professional Vendors, and private mediators to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the "Agreement To Be Bound by Protective Order" (Exhibit A);
(e) the author, addressees, or recipients of the document;
(f) during their deposition, any natural person who is specifically identified in the document, or whose conduct relevant to the claims or defenses in this litigation is purported to be specifically identified in the document;
(g) participants in a focus group or mock jury who have agreed in writing to keep the information confidential and not to use it for any purpose other than the focus group, mock jury, or similar exercise, provided that such participants shall not be permitted to retain any copies of any Protected Material or to retain any notes of any Protected Material.
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(a) the Receiving Party's Outside Counsel of record in this action, as well as employees of said counsel to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this litigation;
(b) Experts and/or Consultants with respect to each of whom (1) disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation, and (2) an "Agreement To Be Bound by Protective Order" (Exhibit A) has been signed;
(c) the Court and its personnel;
(d) stenographers, their staffs, Professional Vendors, and private mediators to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the "Agreement To Be Bound by Protective Order" (Exhibit A);
(e) the author, addressees, or recipients of the document.
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If a Receiving Party is served with a discovery request, subpoena or an order issued in other litigation that would compel disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as "CONFIDENTIAL," "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL," "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL— ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—OUTSIDE COUNSEL ONLY," or any information or items produced in this action regardless of designation, the Receiving Party must so notify the Designating Party, in writing (by electronic mail, if possible), along with a copy of the discovery request, subpoena or order, as soon as reasonably practicable.
The Receiving Party also must immediately inform the party who caused the discovery request, subpoena or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all the material covered by the subpoena or order is the subject of this Protective Order. In addition, the Receiving Party must deliver a copy of this Protective Order promptly to the party in the other action that caused the discovery request, subpoena or order to issue.
The purpose of imposing these duties is to alert the interested parties to the existence of this Protective Order and to afford the Designating Party in this case an opportunity to try to protect its interests in the court from which the discovery request, subpoena or order is issued. The Designating Party shall bear the burdens and the expenses of seeking protection in that court. 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.
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 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 copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Protective Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the "Acknowledgment and Agreement To Be Bound" that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
Without written permission from the Designating Party or a court order secured after appropriate notice to all interested persons, a Party may not file in the public record in this action any Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5.
Unless otherwise ordered or agreed in writing by the Producing Party, within thirty days after the final termination of this action, including any appeals, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party. As used in this subdivision, "Protected Material" includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other form of reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. The Receiving Party may destroy some or all of the Protected Material instead of returning it. 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 thirty day deadline that identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and that affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or other forms of reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence or attorney 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), above.
If a Party at any time notifies any other Party that it inadvertently produced documents, testimony, information, and/or things that are protected from disclosure under the attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine, and/or any other applicable privilege or immunity from disclosure, or the Receiving Party discovers such inadvertent production, the inadvertent production shall not be deemed a waiver of the applicable privilege or protection.
The Receiving Party shall immediately return all copies of such documents, testimony, information and/or things to the inadvertently producing Party and shall not use such items for any purpose until further order of the Court. In all events, such return must occur within three (3) business days of receipt of notice or discovery of the inadvertent production. The return of any discovery item to the inadvertently producing Party shall not in any way preclude the Receiving Party from moving the Court for a ruling that the document or thing was never privileged.
Nothing in this Protective Order will bar or otherwise restrict an attorney from rendering advice to his or her client with respect to this matter or from relying upon or generally referring to "CONFIDENTIAL," "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL," "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY," or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—OUTSIDE COUNSEL ONLY" Disclosure or Discovery Material in rendering such advice; provided however, that in rendering such advice or in otherwise communicating with his or her client, the attorney shall not reveal or disclose the specific content thereof if such disclosure is not otherwise permitted under this Protective Order.
The terms of this Protective Order shall govern in all circumstances except at trial. The parties shall meet and confer in advance of trial and seek the guidance of the Court as to appropriate procedures to govern such proceedings.
No party shall serve or seek any discovery that would refer, reflect, or relate to any party's or witness' communications with the United States or with the grand jury (including, but not limited to, the fact or the existence of such communications), relating to the grand jury proceedings concerning the lithium ion battery industry, except by order of the Court upon good cause shown and consistent with governing law. This provision shall not bar the production to Plaintiffs of documents produced by any defendant to the United States concerning lithium ion batteries and/or lithium ion battery products if ordered by the Court.
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