RICHARD SEEBORG, District Judge.
Disclosures and discovery 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 and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Stipulated Protective 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. The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in paragraph 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a Party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal.
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The protections conferred by this Stipulated Protective 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 complications 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 Stipulated Protective 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 Stipulated Protective 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 Stipulated Protective 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 either (1) dismissal of all claims and defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; or (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.
5.1
Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. If it comes to the 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 or modifying the designation.
5.2
Designation in conformity with this Stipulated Protective Order requires:
(a) For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), the Producing Party must affix the legend "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" to each document that contains Protected Material (except that a document produced in native form (e.g., Excel documents) shall have the confidentiality designation appended to its file name instead or shall otherwise be designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" at the time of it is copied and produced).
A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which material it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL." After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Stipulated Protective Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the appropriate legend ("CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL") to each page that contains Protected Material (except that documents produced in native form (e.g., Excel documents) need not be affixed with a confidentiality designation).
(b) For testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, the Designating Party may invoke on the record (before the deposition, hearing, or other proceeding is concluded) a right to have up to 30 days to identify the specific portions of the testimony as to which protection is sought and to specify the level of protection being asserted. Only those portions of the testimony that are appropriately designated for protection within the 30 days shall be covered by the provisions of this Stipulated Protective Order. Alternatively, a Designating Party may specify, at the deposition or up to 30 days afterwards if that period is properly invoked, that the entire transcript shall be treated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL." In the absence of a contrary designation on the record at the time the testimony is given, during the 30 days and prior to a designation being made, the testimony shall be deemed "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL."
Parties shall give the other parties notice if they reasonably expect a deposition, hearing or other proceeding to include Protected Material so that the other parties can ensure that only authorized individuals specified below in paragraphs 7.2 and 7.3 are present at those proceedings. The use of a document as an exhibit at a deposition, hearing or other proceeding shall not in any way affect its designation as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL."
Transcripts containing Protected Material shall have an obvious legend on the title page that the transcript contains Protected Material, and the title page shall be followed by a list of all pages (including line numbers as appropriate) that have been designated as Protected Material and the level of protection being asserted by the Designating Party. The Designating Party shall inform the court reporter of these requirements. Any transcript that is prepared before the expiration of a 30-day period for designation shall be treated during that period as if it had been designated "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" in its entirety unless otherwise agreed. After the expiration of that period, the transcript shall be treated only as actually designated.
(c) For information produced in some form other than documentary and for any other tangible items, the Producing Party must affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information or item is stored the legend "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL."
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The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. All parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party's designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
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 Stipulated Protective Order.
7.2
7.3
7.4
(a) 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 Stipulated Protective Order) any information or item that has been designated "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" 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 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), (4) identifies each person or entity from whom the Expert has received compensation or direct 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 (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.
(b) A Party that makes a request and provides the information specified in the preceding respective paragraphs may disclose the designated "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" Protected Material to the identified Expert unless, within 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 (by telephone or in-person) to try to resolve the matter by agreement within seven days of the written objection. If no agreement is reached, the Party seeking to make the disclosure to the Expert may file a motion as provided in Civil Local Rule 7 (and in compliance with Civil Local Rule 79-5, if applicable) seeking permission from the Court to do so. Any such motion must describe the circumstances with specificity, set forth in detail the reasons why the disclosure to the Expert is reasonably necessary, assess the risk of harm (or lack thereof) that the disclosure would entail, and suggest any additional means that could be used to reduce that risk. In addition, any such motion must be accompanied by a competent declaration describing the parties' efforts to resolve the matter by agreement (i.e., the extent and the content of the meet and confer discussions) and setting forth the reasons advanced by the Designating Party for its refusal to approve the disclosure.
In any such proceeding, the Party opposing disclosure to 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 Expert.
If a Party is served with a discovery request, subpoena or a court order issued in another litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL," that Party must:
If the Party served with the Subpoena timely objects on behalf of the Designating Party or 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" before a determination by the court from which the request, 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. 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.
(a) The terms of this Stipulated Protective Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this action, which the Non-Party can designate as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL" as provided herein. Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Stipulated Protective 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, other than this Stipulated Protective Order, with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party's confidential information, then the Party shall:
(c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this Court within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party's confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving 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. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material.
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 Stipulated Protective Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the "Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound" (Exhibit A).
When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently produced material is Privileged Material, the Receiving Parties shall comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), the Parties agree, and the Court orders, that the procedure set forth below provides the Producing Party a method for retrieving or "clawing back" inadvertently produced Privileged Material, subject to any resolution of any dispute over the privileged or protected status of the Privileged Material, and for foreclosing any arguments of waiver, subject to the procedures outlined below for bringing disputed claims to the Court for resolution.
(a) If a Producing Party has a good faith belief that Privileged Material has been inadvertently produced, and at any time notifies Receiving Parties in writing that the Producing Party disclosed Privileged Material (an "Inadvertent Disclosure Notice"), or any Party or Non-Party receiving Privileged Material discovers such disclosure (in which case the Receiving Party shall give the Producing Party prompt written notice), then, consistent with Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d), the inadvertent production of Privileged Material shall not be deemed a waiver — in the above-captioned action or in any other proceeding, including in Federal, State, arbitral or foreign proceedings — of the applicable privilege, protection, or prohibition from disclosure.
(b) Upon receipt of any Inadvertent Disclosure Notice claiming that a document is or includes Privileged Material, all other Parties (regardless of whether they agree with the claim of privilege or work-product protection) shall promptly:
(c) To the extent a Receiving Party disputes the claim of privilege or work-product protection (the "Disputing Party"), the Disputing Party shall notify in writing the Producing Party of its position within thirty (30) days of receiving the Inadvertent Disclosure Notice (a "Dispute Notification"). Within seven (7) days of receiving the Dispute Notification, the Producing Party shall either withdraw its claim of privilege or confer with the Disputing Party in an effort to resolve their disagreement. If no such resolution is reached, the Disputing Party may apply to the Court for a ruling on the Producing Party's claim of privilege. In arguing issues concerning protection for material claimed to constitute Privileged Material, no Party shall assert as a basis for the relief it seeks (including if a Receiving Party seeks a ruling that the disclosed information was never privileged) the fact or circumstance that such documents have already been inadvertently produced in the above-captioned action. However, the Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B) and paragraph (b) above regardless of whether it disputes the claim of privilege or work-product protection.
(d) If, during a deposition, a Party claims that a document being used in the deposition (e.g., marked as an exhibit, shown to the witness, or made the subject of examination) is subject to privilege or work-product protection, it may at its sole election (a) allow the document to be used in the deposition without waiver of its claim of privilege or work-product protection or (b) consistent with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(h)(3), instruct the witness not to answer questions concerning the document pending a prompt resolution of any disagreement concerning the document's privileged or work-product protected status. If the Party allows the examination concerning the document to proceed on a non-waiver basis, the Parties shall sequester all copies of the purportedly privileged or work-product protected document. Immediately following the deposition, the Parties will commence the procedure outlined in the preceding paragraphs to address the claim of privilege or other protection as to both the privileged document and any testimony provided concerning the document. If a Party disputes the claim of privilege or work-product protection, then until the dispute is resolved, no persons other than Outside Counsel of Record in this action and those present at the deposition will have any access to the inadvertently produced document and any testimony related thereto. If the Party instructs the witness not to answer questions concerning the document, the Parties will then cooperate in promptly submitting the issue of the document's status to the Court.
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12.3
Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 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 confirming that (1) the Protected Material in the possession of the Receiving Party has been returned or destroyed in accordance with this Stipulated Protective Order and (2) 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 Stipulated Protective Order as set forth in paragraph 4.
I, Laura Kabler Oswell, am the ECF user whose ID and password are being used to file this Stipulated Protective Order. In compliance with General Order No. 45, X.B., I hereby attest that Jon L. Rewinski has concurred in this filing.
I, ____________________________ [print or type full name], of __________________ [print or type full address], declare that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on [date] in the case of Via Licensing Corporation v. Haier America Trading, LLC, No. 3:17-cv-03485-RS. 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 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 Northern 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.