Maxon Industries, Inc. v. Dhollandia US, LLC ( 2023 )

2 EA-NMOaOil:J PMAaTrcE@L H(SaBnkNin: P3a0t0e2n9tL7)a w.com E-Mail: Anooj@HankinPatentLaw.com 3 HANKIN PATENT LAW, A Professional Corporation 4 12400 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1265 Los Angeles, CA 90025 5 Tel: (310) 979-3600/Fax: (310) 979-3603 Attorneys for Plaintiff 6 MAXON INDUSTRIES, INC. 7 DANIEL A. SOLITRO (SBN: 243908) 8 E-Mail: dsolitro@lockelord.com LOCKE LORD LLP 9 300 South Grand Avenue, Suite 2600 Los Angeles, CA 90071 10 Tel: (213) 485-1500/Fax: (213) 485-1200 11 BRYAN G. HARRISON (admitted pro hac vice) E-Mail: bryan.harrison@lockelord.com 12 LOCKE LORD LLP Terminus 200, Suite 2000 13 3333 Piedmont Rd NE Atlanta, GA 30305 14 Tel: (404) 870-4629/Fax: (404) 806-5622 15 Attorneys for Defendant DHOLLANDIA US, LLC 16 17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 18 19 MAXON INDUSTRIES, INC., a CASE No. EDCV 22-2215-GW-AFMx California corporation, 20 Plaintiff STIPULATED PROTECTIVE v. 21 ORDER DHOLLANDIA US, LLC, a 22 Delaware Limited Liability Company; and DOES 1 through 10, 23 inclusive; 24 Defendants. 25 26 27 28 2 1. PRELIMINARY STATEMENTS 3 4 A. PURPOSE AND LIMITATIONS 5 Plaintiff, MAXON INDUSTRIES, INC., and Defendant, DHOLLANDIA US, 6 LLC (each a “Party,” collectively, the “Parties”) believe that certain information that 7 is or will be encompassed by discovery demands by the Parties involves the 8 production or disclosure of trade secrets, confidential business information, or other 9 proprietary information, for which special protection from public disclosure and from 10 use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. 11 Accordingly, the Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the 12 following Stipulated Protective Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Order does 13 not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that 14 the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited 15 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable 16 legal principles. 17 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 18 19 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and 20 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or 21 proprietary information, for which special protection from public disclosure and from 22 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 23 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things, 24 confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential 25 business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial 26 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third Parties), 27 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged 28 or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case 2 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, 3 to adequately protect information the Parties are entitled to keep confidential, to 4 ensure that the Parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in 5 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the 6 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is 7 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the Parties that information will not be 8 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated 9 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public 10 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of this 11 case. 12 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 13 The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in paragraph 11.3, below, that this 14 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information 15 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and 16 the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file 17 material under seal. 18 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 19 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, 20 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 21 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors 22 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 23 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good 24 cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with 25 proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect to 26 Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The Parties’ mere designation 27 of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY 28 2 submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material 3 sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise 4 protectable—constitute good cause. 5 Further, if a Party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 6 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief 7 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See 8 Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each 9 item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under 10 seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking protection must 11 articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for 12 the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to 13 file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 14 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 15 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 16 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only 17 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall 18 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety 19 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 20 2. DEFINITIONS 21 22 2.1 Action: Case No. 5:22-cv-02215-GW-AFM now pending in the United 23 States District Court for the Central District of California. 24 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 25 of information or items under this Order. 26 2.3 Designated Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 27 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ 28 EYES ONLY.” 2 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection 3 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good 4 Cause Statement. 5 2.5 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” 6 Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is generated, stored or 7 maintained) or tangible things that is so sensitive that its dissemination deserves even 8 further limitation than CONFIDENTIAL. 9 2.6 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and In-House Counsel (as well as 10 their support staff). 11 2.7 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 12 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 13 “CONFIDENTIAL” Or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES 14 ONLY.” 15 2.8 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of 16 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 17 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 18 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 19 2.9 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 20 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 21 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 22 2.10 In-House Counsel: attorneys who are internal employees of a Party to this 23 Action. In-House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other 24 outside counsel. 25 2.11 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 26 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 27 28 2 a party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 3 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 4 that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 5 2.13 Party: any Party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 6 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 7 support staffs). 8 2.14 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 9 Discovery Material in this Action. 10 2.15 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 11 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 12 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 13 and their employees and subcontractors. 14 2.16 Protected Material: any document, information or material that 15 constitutes or includes, in whole or in part, confidential or proprietary information or 16 trade secrets of the Party or a Third Party to whom the Party reasonably believes it 17 owes an obligation of confidentiality with respect to such document, information or 18 material. 19 2.17 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 20 from a Producing Party. 21 3. SCOPE 22 23 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 24 Designated Material and/or Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any 25 information copied or extracted from Designated Material and/or Protected Material; 26 (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Designated Material and/or 27 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties 28 or their Counsel that might reveal Designated Material and/or Protected Material. Any 2 orders of the trial Judge. This Order does not govern the use of Designated Material 3 and/or Protected Material at trial. 4 4. DURATION 5 6 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 7 CONFIDENTIAL, HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY, or 8 maintained pursuant to this Protective Order used or introduced as an exhibit at trial 9 becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public, 10 including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings 11 to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 12 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents 13 produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related 14 documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order 15 do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 16 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 17 5.1 Confidential Material. A Party shall designate documents, information or 18 material as “CONFIDENTIAL” only upon a good faith belief that the documents, 19 information or material contains confidential or proprietary information or trade 20 secrets of the Party or a Third Party to whom the Party reasonably believes it owes an 21 obligation of confidentiality with respect to such documents, information or material. 22 Documents, information or material produced pursuant to any discovery request in 23 this Action, including but not limited to Protected Material designated as Designated 24 Material, shall be used by the Parties only in the litigation of this Action and shall not 25 be used for any other purpose. Any person or entity who obtains access to Designated 26 Material or the contents thereof pursuant to this Order shall not make any copies, 27 duplicates, extracts, summaries or descriptions of such Designated Material or any 28 2 Any such copies, duplicates, extracts, summaries or descriptions shall be classified 3 Designated Materials and subject to all of the terms and conditions of this Order. 4 5.2 Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes Only Material. Any party may 5 designate Protected Material as “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEY’S 6 ONLY” when the producing Party believes in good faith that the Protected Material 7 is so sensitive that its dissemination deserves even further limitation, including 8 information that the Designating Party in good faith believes that disclosure will 9 likely harm the Designating Party’s competitive position concerning, inter alia: trade 10 secrets; customer/supplier lists and other highly confidential information regarding 11 customers, dealers and distributors; non-public technical information; confidential 12 financial information; manufacturing and research information; confidential 13 commercial information regarding technology used to make and/or confirm the 14 authenticity of the products at issue in the litigation; and/or highly sensitive 15 information that is not publicly known. 16 5.3 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 17 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this 18 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies 19 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 20 only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written communications that 21 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items or communications 22 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of 23 this Order. 24 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are 25 shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., 26 to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary 27 expenses and burdens on other Parties) may expose the Designating Party to 28 sanctions. 2 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 3 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 4 5.4 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 5 Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated 6 or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this 7 Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 8 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 9 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 10 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), the 11 Producing Party shall affix at a minimum, the word(s) “CONFIDENTIAL” or 12 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”, placed clearly at the 13 bottom, center of each page of the Protected Material for which such protection is 14 sought. Discovery responses shall not bear the “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 15 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” legend on the entire document, 16 unless all of the responses contained therein meet the criteria of being designated as 17 such. Otherwise, the responding party shall designate for each response the 18 appropriate designation legend. Such designations shall be made at the time when the 19 discovery response is served, or when the document or thing, or copy thereof, is 20 provided to the receiving party. 21 (b) for testimony given in depositions or at a hearing, the wording 22 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES 23 ONLY” shall be placed on the cover page of the transcript (if not already present on 24 the cover page of the transcript when received from the Court Reporter) by each 25 attorney receiving a copy of the transcript after that attorney receives notice of the 26 designation of some or all of that transcript as “CONFIDENTIAL or “HIGHLY 27 CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” and on each page where 28 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES 2 (c) For video recordings of depositions or hearings, the Parties shall instruct 3 the videographer upon the conclusion of the video-testimony, how to designate the 4 videorecording, or any portion thereof, as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 5 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”. All documents, or any portion 6 thereof, made available for inspection (but not yet formally produced to the inspecting 7 party) shall be presumptively deemed to contain “Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ 8 Eyes Only” subject to the provisions of this Protective Order, regardless of whether 9 so identified, until copies thereof are formally produced to the inspecting party. Any 10 information, document, or thing that bears both designations must be treated as 11 “Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” 12 (d) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any 13 other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 14 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 15 “CONFIDENTIAL” Or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 16 ONLY.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the 17 Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 18 (e) All documents, or any portion thereof, made available for inspection (but 19 not yet formally produced to the inspecting party) shall be presumptively deemed to 20 contain “Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes Only” subject to the provisions of 21 this Protective Order, regardless of whether so identified, until copies thereof are 22 formally produced to the inspecting party. Any information, document, or thing that 23 bears both designations must be treated as “Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes 24 Only.” 25 5.5 With respect to documents, information or material designated 26 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES 27 ONLY”, subject to the provisions herein and unless otherwise stated, this Order 28 governs, without limitation: (a) all documents, electronically stored information, 2 hearing or deposition testimony, or documents marked as exhibits or for identification 3 in depositions, hearings and trial; (c) pretrial pleadings, exhibits to pleadings and 4 other court filings; (d) affidavits; and (e) stipulations. All copies, reproductions, 5 extracts, digests and complete or partial summaries prepared from any Designated 6 Material shall also be considered Designated Material and treated as such under this 7 Order. 8 5.6 A designation of Protected Material (i.e., “CONFIDENTIAL” or 9 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”) shall be made as 10 follows: (i) for testimony at deposition or hearing, such designation shall be made by 11 each party within ten (10) days of receipt of the transcript and (ii) for any other 12 Designated Material, such designation shall be made at the time of production. 13 Access to Designated Material shall be limited in accordance with the terms of this 14 Order. Prior to expiration of the 10-day period, Designated Material shall be treated 15 as “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEY’S EYES ONLY”. 16 5.7 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. An inadvertent failure to designate 17 qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s 18 right to secure protection under this Order for such material; provided, however, that 19 the Designating Party advises the Receiving Party of the failure to designate in a 20 timely manner. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must 21 make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 22 provisions of this Order. 23 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 24 25 Any party may challenge a designation given to any Designated Material at any 26 time by notifying the designating Party in writing of the basis for the dispute, 27 identifying the specific document[s] or thing[s] as to which the designation is disputed 28 and proposing a new designation for such materials. The Parties must make every 2 confidentiality designation or for a protective order must include a certification, in the 3 motion or in a declaration or affidavit, that the movant has engaged in a good faith 4 meet and confer conference with other affected Parties in an effort to resolve the 5 dispute without court action. The certification must list the date, manner, and 6 participants to the conference. A good faith effort to confer requires a face-to-face 7 meeting or a telephone conference. If the Parties cannot agree, the requesting Party 8 may apply to the Court for relief. Pending the Court’s determination of the 9 application, the designation of the designating Party shall be maintained. A Party’s 10 failure to contest a designation of information as Confidential or Highly Confidential 11 is not an admission that the information was properly designated as such. 12 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF DESIGNATED OR PROTECTED MATERIAL 13 14 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Designated Material and/or 15 Protected Material that is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party 16 in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle 17 this Action. Such Designated Material and/or Protected Material may be disclosed 18 only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. 19 When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the 20 provisions of section 12 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 21 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location 22 and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized 23 under this Order. 24 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 25 otherwise ordered by the court or upon receipt of the prior written consent of the 26 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 27 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 28 2 secretarial, clerical personnel assisting such counsel, and any other employees of 3 counsel or independent contractors operating under counsel’s instruction; 4 (b) a Party’s In-House Counsel (if any exist); 5 (c) if the Receiving Party does not have an In-House Counsel, the Receiving 6 Party may disclose Confidential Information up to and including four (4) designated 7 representatives of each of the Parties, and each named individual Party to the 8 litigation, to the extent reasonably necessary for the litigation of this Action. The 9 Receiving Party shall provide the name, job title, and an executed undertaking in the 10 form attached hereto as Exhibit A executed by such representative(s) to the 11 Designating Party no less than ten (10) days prior to disclosing Designated 12 Information; 13 (d) outside consultants or experts (i.e., not existing employees or affiliates of 14 a Party or an affiliate of a Party) retained for the purpose of this litigation, provided 15 that: (1) such consultants or experts are not presently employed by the Parties hereto 16 for purposes other than this Action; and (2) before access is given, the consultant or 17 expert has completed the undertaking attached as Exhibit A hereto; 18 (e) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 19 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 20 (f) any mediator(s), arbitrator(s), or special masters(s) appointed by the 21 Court or agreed to by the Parties; 22 (g) independent litigation support services, including persons working for or 23 as court reporters, stenographers, videographers, graphics or design services, jury or 24 trial consulting services, and photocopy, document imaging, and database services 25 retained by counsel and reasonably necessary to assist counsel with the litigation of 26 this Action; and 27 (h) the Court and its personnel. 28 2 Information or Items. For Protected Material designated as HIGHLY 3 CONFIDENTIAL -- ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY, access to, and disclosure of, such 4 Protected Material shall be limited to individuals listed in paragraphs 7.2(a) and (d- 5 h). 6 7.4 Privilege/Work Product Material. Nothing in this Order shall require 7 production of documents, information or other material that a Party contends is 8 protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege, the work product doctrine, 9 or other privilege, doctrine, or immunity. If documents, information or other material 10 subject to a claim of attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine, or other 11 privilege, doctrine, or immunity is inadvertently or unintentionally produced, such 12 production shall in no way prejudice or otherwise constitute a waiver of, or estoppel 13 as to, any such privilege, doctrine, or immunity. Any Party that inadvertently or 14 unintentionally produces documents, information or other material it reasonably 15 believes are protected under the attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine, or 16 other privilege, doctrine, or immunity may obtain the return of such documents, 17 information or other material by promptly notifying the recipient(s) and providing a 18 privilege log for the inadvertently or unintentionally produced documents, 19 information or other material. Any Party that believes they have inadvertently or 20 unintentionally received documents, information or other material subject to a claim 21 of attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine, or other privilege, doctrine, or 22 immunity, shall immediately notify the producing Party of the potential inadvertent 23 disclosure. The recipient(s) shall gather and return all copies of such documents, 24 information or other material to the producing Party, except for any pages containing 25 privileged or otherwise protected markings by the recipient(s), which pages shall 26 instead be destroyed and certified as such to the producing Party. 27 7.5 There shall be no disclosure of any Designated Material by any person 28 authorized to have access thereto to any person who is not authorized for such access 2 information and material to protect against disclosure to any unauthorized persons or 3 entities. 4 7.6 Service of Designated Material. Any Party electronically serving 5 designated material, shall share the designated material by email or a shared file link 6 to all email eservice addresses identified in the Parties’ Counsel’s signature blocks 7 below. The subject line of the email shall include the language “SERVICE OF 8 DESIGNATED MATERIAL, MAXON INDUS., INC. v. DHOLLANDIA US, 9 USDC CD CAL Case No. 5:22-cv-02215”. Non-Designated Material shall be served 10 by the same method, may be eserved in the same email, and the Subject reference line 11 may be modified accordingly. 12 7.7 Use of Designated Material. Nothing contained herein shall be construed 13 to prejudice any Party’s right to use any Designated Material in taking testimony at 14 any deposition, hearing or trial provided that the Designated Material is only disclosed 15 to a person(s) who is: (i) eligible to have access to the Designated Material by virtue 16 of his or her employment with the designating party, (ii) identified in the Designated 17 Material as an author, addressee, or copy recipient of such information, (iii) although 18 not identified as an author, addressee, or copy recipient of such Designated Material, 19 has, in the ordinary course of business, seen such Designated Material, (iv) a current 20 or former officer, director or employee of the producing Party or a current or former 21 officer, director or employee of a company affiliated with the producing Party; (v) for 22 CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL, counsel for a Party, including outside counsel, and 23 in-house counsel, and for HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES 24 ONLY MATERIAL, counsel for a party, excluding in-house counsel, unless agreed 25 in a prior writing; (vi) subject to Paragraph 4(d), an independent contractor, 26 consultant, and/or expert retained for the purpose of this litigation; (vii) court 27 reporters and videographers; (viii) the Court; or (ix) other persons entitled hereunder 28 to access to Designated Material. Designated Material shall not be disclosed to any 2 producing Party. 3 7.8 Before filing any Designated Material or discussing or referencing such 4 material in court filings, or using Designated Material at depositions, hearings and/or 5 trial, the filing party shall confer with the designating party, in accordance with Local 6 Rule 7.3, to determine whether the designating party will remove the confidential 7 designation, whether the document can be redacted, or whether a motion to seal or 8 stipulation and proposed order is warranted. During the meet and confer process, the 9 designating party must identify the basis for sealing the specific confidential 10 information at issue, and the designating party shall include this basis in its motion to 11 seal, along with any objection to sealing the information at issue. Local Rule 79-5 sets 12 forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when 13 a party seeks permission from the Court to file material under seal. A party who seeks 14 to maintain the confidentiality of its information must satisfy the requirements of 15 Local Rule 79-5, even if it is not the party filing the motion to seal. 16 7.9 Acknowledgement Form. Each (i) Party representative or (ii) outside 17 consultant or expert to whom Designated Material is disclosed in accordance with the 18 terms of this Order shall be advised by counsel of the terms of this Order, shall be 19 informed that he or she is subject to the terms and conditions of this Order, and shall 20 sign an undertaking that he or she has received a copy of, has read, and has agreed to 21 be bound by this Order. A copy of the undertaking form is attached as Exhibit A. 22 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 23 OTHER LITIGATION 24 25 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 26 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 27 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEY’S EYES 28 ONLY,” that Party shall: 2 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 3 2) to the extent permitted by law, court rule, and court order, withhold 4 production of the requested information until (a) the producing Party permits 5 production, (b) a court of competent jurisdiction orders otherwise, (c) the producing 6 Party files a motion or other legal action to protect such material and the court has 7 ruled on said motion, or (d) the producing Party fails to file a motion or other legal 8 action to protect such material within five (5) business days following receipt of the 9 notice required in Paragraph 24(1). 10 The purpose of imposing these duties is to alert the interested Parties to the existence 11 of this Protective Order and to afford the designating party in this litigation an 12 opportunity to try to protect its confidentiality interests in the court from which the 13 subpoena, request or order issued. 14 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 15 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 16 17 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non- 18 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 19 CONFIDENTIAL -- ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” Such information produced by 20 Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 21 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting 22 a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 23 (b) To the extent that discovery or testimony is taken of Non-Party, the Non- 24 Party may designate as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL -- 25 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” any documents, information or other material, in 26 whole or in part, produced or given by such Non-Party. The Non-Party shall have ten 27 (10) days after production of such documents, information or other materials to make 28 such a designation. Until that time period lapses or until such a designation has been 2 produced or given shall be treated as “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 3 EYES ONLY” in accordance with this Order. 4 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 6 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 7 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 8 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 9 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 10 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 11 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 12 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 13 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 14 11. MISCELLANEOUS 15 11.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 16 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 17 11.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 18 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 19 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 20 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 21 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 22 11.3 Filing Designated and/or Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file 23 under seal any Protected and/or Designated Material must comply with Local Civil 24 Rule 79-5. Designated and/or Protected Material may only be filed under seal 25 pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Designated and/or 26 Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Designated and/or Protected 27 Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the 28 2 11.4 The failure to designate documents, information or material in accordance 3 with this Order and the failure to object to a designation at a given time shall not 4 preclude the filing of a motion at a later date seeking to impose such designation or 5 challenging the propriety thereof. The entry of this Order and/or the production of 6 documents, information and material hereunder shall in no way constitute a waiver of 7 any objection to the furnishing thereof, all such objections being hereby preserved. 8 11.5 Production of Designated Material by each of the Parties shall not be 9 deemed a publication of the documents, information and material (or the contents 10 thereof) produced so as to void or make voidable whatever claim the Parties may have 11 as to the proprietary and confidential nature of the documents, information or other 12 material or its contents. 13 11.6 Nothing in this Order shall be construed to effect an abrogation, waiver 14 or limitation of any kind on the rights of each of the Parties to assert any applicable 15 discovery or trial privilege. 16 11.7 Each of the Parties shall also retain the right to file a motion with the 17 Court (a) to modify this Order to allow disclosure of Designated Material to additional 18 persons or entities if reasonably necessary to prepare and present this Action and (b) 19 to apply for additional protection of Designated Material. 20 12. FINAL DISPOSITION 21 22 12.1 Within thirty (30) days of final termination of this Action, including any 23 appeals, all Designated Material, including all copies, duplicates, abstracts, indexes, 24 summaries, descriptions, and excerpts or extracts thereof (excluding excerpts or 25 extracts incorporated into any privileged memoranda of the Parties and materials 26 which have been admitted into evidence in this Action), shall at the producing Party’s 27 election either be returned to the producing Party or be destroyed. The receiving Party 28 shall verify the return or destruction by affidavit furnished to the producing Party, 2 12.2 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival 3 copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal 4 memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney 5 work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain 6 Designated and/or Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 7 constitute Designated and/or Protected Material remain subject to this Protective 8 Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 9 12.3 Survival. This Order’s obligations regarding Confidential and Highly 10 Confidential information survive the conclusion of this case. 11 13. VIOLATION 12 13 Any Party knowing or believing that any other party is in violation of or intends 14 to violate this Order and has raised the question of violation or potential violation with 15 the opposing party and has been unable to resolve the matter by agreement may move 16 the Court for such relief as may be appropriate in the circumstances. Pending 17 disposition of the motion by the Court, the Party alleged to be in violation of or 18 intending to violate this Order shall discontinue the performance of and/or shall not 19 undertake the further performance of any action alleged to constitute a violation of 20 this Order. 21 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 22 23 DATED: August 10, 2023 24 By: /Marc E. Hankin/ 25 HANKIN PATENT LAW, APC Marc E. Hankin, Esq. 26 12400 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1265 Los Angeles, California 90025 27 Telephone: (310) 979-3600 marc@hankinpatentlaw.com; 28 Attorneys for Plaintiff, Maxon Industries, Inc. 2 DATED: August 17, 2023 3 By: /Daniel A. Solitro/ LOCKE LORD LLP 4 Daniel A. Solitro 300 South Grand Avenue, Suite 2600 5 Los Angeles, CA 90071 Telephone: (213) 485-1500 6 dsolitro@lockelord.com 7 Attorneys for Defendant, Dhollandia US, LLC 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, AND FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO 2 ORDERED. 3 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 502(d), the 4 || production of any documents in this proceeding shall not, for the purposes of this 5 || proceeding or any other federal or state proceeding, constitute a waiver by the 6 || producing party of any privilege applicable to those documents, including the 7 || attorney-client privilege, attorney work-product protection, or any other privilege or 8 || protection recognized by law. 9 10 |} DATED: December 18, 2023 11 Pe & 13 || HON. GEORGE H. WU, 14 United States District Judge 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, ____________________________________ [print or type full name], of 5 ____________________________________ [print or type full address], declare 6 under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States of America that: 7 1. I have received a copy of the Protective Order in this action. I have 8 carefully read in its entirety and understand the Protective Order that was issued by 9 the United States District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the 10 case of Maxon Industries, Inc. v. Dhollandia US, LLC, Case No. 5:22-cv-02215-GW- 11 AFM. 12 2. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Protective 13 Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me 14 to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. 15 3. I solemnly promise that I will hold in confidence, will not disclose to 16 anyone not qualified under the Protective Order, and will use only for purposes of this 17 action any information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 18 CONFIDENTIAL -- ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” that is disclosed to me. 19 4. Promptly upon termination of these actions, I will return all documents 20 and things designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL -- 21 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” that came into my possession, and all documents and 22 things that I have prepared relating thereto, to the outside counsel for the party by 23 whom I am employed. 24 25 26 27 28 2 enforcement of the Protective Order in this action even if such enforcement 3 proceedings occur after termination of this action. 4 5 Date: ________________ Signature: ____________________________ 6 Printed Name: _________________________ 7 City/State where sworn and signed: 8 _____________________________________ 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28