AfterGlow, LLC v. Bright Path Lighting, Inc. ( 2019 )

rmatthews@williamsmullen.com 2 Robert C. Van Arnam (NC Bar No. 28838) rvanarnam@williamsmullen.com 3 Andrew R. Shores (NC Bar No. 46600) 4 ashores@williamsmullen.com Williams Mullen 5 301 Fayetteville Street, Suite 1700 6 Raleigh, NC 27601 Telephone: (919) 981-4000 7 Facsimile: (919) 984-4300 8 Oliver W. Wanger (40331) 9 owanger@wjhattorneys.com 10 Christopher A. Lisieski (321862) clisieski@wjhattorneys.com 11 WANGER JONES HELSLEY PC 12 265 E. River Park Circle, Suite 310 Fresno, California 93720 13 Telephone:(559) 233-4800 14 Facsimile: (559) 233-9330 15 Attorneys for Plaintiff 16 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 17 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 18 AFTERGLOW, LLC, 19 20 Plaintiff, 21 v. CASE NO. 1:19-CV-0535-AWI-BAM 22 23 BRIGHT PATH LIGHTING, INC., 24 Defendant. 25 PROTECTIVE ORDER 26 The Court recognizes that at least some of the documents, things, and 27 information being sought through discovery in the above-captioned action are, for 28 2 whom discovery may be sought who desires the protection of this Protective Order. 3 The parties have agreed to be bound by the terms of this Protective Order (“Order”) in 4 this action. The materials to be exchanged throughout the course of the litigation 5 6 between the parties and non-parties, may contain trade secret or other confidential 7 research, technical, cost, price, marketing or other commercial information, as is 8 contemplated by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(1)(G). The purpose of this 9 10 Order is to protect the confidentiality of such materials during the litigation. Pursuant 11 to Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and for good cause, IT IS 12 HEREBY ORDERED THAT: 13 14 1. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for 15 protection under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific 16 material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. 17 18 DEFINITIONS 19 2. The term "Confidential Information" will mean and include information 20 21 contained or disclosed in any materials, whether produced informally or in response to 22 written discovery requests, including documents, portions of documents, answers to 23 interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions, trial testimony, deposition 24 25 testimony, and transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, including data, summaries, 26 and compilations derived therefrom that is deemed to be Confidential Information by 27 any party to which it belongs. 28 2 proprietary technical, scientific, financial, business, health, or medical information; 3 documents; correspondence; memoranda; bulletins; blueprints; specifications; customer 4 lists or other material that identify customers or potential customers; price lists or 5 6 schedules or other matter identifying pricing; minutes; telegrams; letters; statements; 7 cancelled checks; contracts; invoices; drafts; books of account; worksheets; notes of 8 conversations; desk diaries; appointment books; expense accounts; recordings; 9 10 photographs; motion pictures; compilations from which information can be obtained 11 and translated into reasonably usable form through detection devices; sketches; 12 drawings; notes (including laboratory notebooks and records); reports; instructions; 13 14 disclosures; other writings; models and prototypes and other physical objects. 15 4. The term “Counsel” or “Attorneys” will mean outside counsel of either 16 party, and other attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, and other support staff employed in 17 18 the law firms. 19 5. The term “Professional Vendors” mean persons or entities that provide 20 21 litigation support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing 22 exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing or retrieving data in any form or 23 medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 24 25 GENERAL RULES 26 6. Each party or any non-parties to this litigation that produces or 27 discloses any Materials, answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for admission, 28 2 or information that the producing party believes should be subject to this Protective 3 Order may designate the same as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL – 4 ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY." 5 6 a. Designation as "CONFIDENTIAL": Any party may designate information 7 as "CONFIDENTIAL" only if, in the good faith belief of such party and its Counsel, 8 the unrestricted disclosure of such information could be potentially prejudicial to the 9 10 business or operations of such party. 11 b. Designation as "CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY": Any 12 party may designate information as "CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY" 13 14 only if, in the good faith belief of such party and its counsel, the information is among 15 that considered to be most sensitive by the party, including but not limited to trade 16 secret or other confidential research, development, financial or other commercial 17 18 information. 19 7. In the event the producing party elects to produce Materials for inspection, 20 21 no marking need be made by the producing party in advance of the initial inspection. 22 For purposes of the initial inspection, all Materials produced will be considered as 23 "CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY," and must be treated as such 24 25 pursuant to the terms of this Order. Thereafter, upon selection of specified Materials for 26 copying by the inspecting party, the producing party must, within a reasonable time 27 prior to producing those Materials to the inspecting party, mark the copies of those 28 2 marking. 3 8. Materials, documents and things produced or furnished during the course 4 of this action may be designated and marked as containing information which is 5 6 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY” by placing 7 on each page, each document (whether in paper or electronic form), or each thing a 8 legend substantially as follows: CONFIDENTIAL or 9 10 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY. 11 9. Whenever a deposition taken on behalf of any party involves a disclosure 12 of Confidential Information of any party: 13 14 a. the deposition or portions of the deposition must be designated as 15 containing Confidential Information subject to the provisions of this Order; such 16 designation must be made on the record whenever possible, but a party may designate 17 18 portions of depositions as containing Confidential Information after transcription of the 19 proceedings; a party will have until thirty (30) days after receipt of the deposition 20 21 transcript to inform the other party or parties to the action or any non-parties of the 22 portions of the transcript to be designated "CONFIDENTIAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL - 23 ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY.” 24 25 b. the disclosing party will have the right to exclude from attendance at 26 27 28 2 person other than the deponent, Counsel (including their staff and associates), the court 3 reporter, and the person(s) agreed upon pursuant to paragraph 9 below; and 4 c. the originals of the deposition transcripts and all copies of the deposition 5 6 must bear the legend "CONFIDENTIAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL - 7 ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY," as appropriate, and the original or any copy ultimately 8 presented to a court for filing must not be filed unless it can be accomplished under 9 10 seal, identified as being subject to this Order, and protected from being opened except 11 by order of this Court. 12 10. All Confidential Information designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" 13 14 or "CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY" must not be disclosed by the 15 receiving party to anyone other than those persons designated within this Order and must 16 be handled in the manner set forth below and, in any event, must not be used for any 17 18 purpose other than in connection with this litigation, unless and until such designation is 19 removed either by agreement of the parties, or by order of the Court. 20 21 11. Information designated "CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS EYES 22 ONLY" must be viewed only by: Counsel (as defined in paragraph 3) of the receiving 23 party; any person indicated on the face of the document to be its originator, author or a 24 25 recipient of a copy of the document; Professional Vendors; and by independent experts 26 under the conditions set forth in this Paragraph. 27 28 2 Confidential Information will be subject to the advance approval of such expert by the 3 producing party or by permission of the Court. 4 a. Each receiving party’s Third-Party Expert shall sign a disclosure 5 6 agreement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A (“Disclosure Agreement”). Copies 7 of the Disclosure Agreement signed by any person or entity to whom Confidential 8 Information is disclosed shall be provided to the other party promptly after execution by 9 10 facsimile and overnight mail. No disclosures shall be made to a Third-Party Expert 11 until seven (7) days after the executed Disclosure Agreement is served on the other 12 party. 13 14 b. Before any Confidential Information is disclosed to outside Third-Party 15 Experts, the following information must be provided in writing to the producing party 16 and received no less than seven (7) days before the intended date of disclosure to that 17 18 outside Third-Party Expert: the identity of that outside Third-Party Expert, business 19 address and/or affiliation and a current curriculum vitae of the Third-Party Expert, and, 20 21 if not contained in the Third-Party Expert’s curriculum vitae, a brief description, 22 including education, present and past employment and general areas of expertise of the 23 Third-Party Expert. If the producing party objects to disclosure of Confidential 24 25 Information to an outside Third-Party Expert, the producing party shall within seven (7) 26 days of receipt serve written objections identifying the specific basis for the objection, 27 and particularly identifying all information to which disclosure is objected. Failure to 28 2 to the Third-Party Expert. As to any objections, the parties shall attempt in good faith 3 to promptly resolve any objections informally. If the objections cannot be resolved, the 4 party seeking to prevent disclosure of the Confidential Information to the expert shall 5 6 move within seven (7) days for an Order of the Court preventing the disclosure. The 7 burden of proving that the designation is proper shall be upon the producing party. If 8 no such motion is made within seven (7) days, disclosure to the Third-Party Expert 9 10 shall be permitted. In the event that objections are made and not resolved informally 11 and a motion is filed, disclosure of Confidential Information to the Third-Party Expert 12 shall not be made except by Order of the Court. 13 14 c. Any disclosure agreement executed by any person affiliated with a party 15 shall be provided to any other party who, based upon a good faith belief that there has 16 been a violation of this order, requests a copy. 17 18 d. No party shall attempt to depose any Third-Party Expert until such time as 19 the Third-Party Expert is designated by the party engaging the Third-Party Expert as a 20 21 testifying expert. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, any party may depose a 22 Third-Party Expert as a fact witness provided that the party seeking such deposition has 23 a good faith, demonstrable basis independent of the Disclosure Agreement or the 24 25 information provided under subparagraph (a) above that such person possesses facts 26 relevant to this action, or facts likely to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence; 27 however, such deposition, if it precedes the designation of such person by the engaging 28 2 subject matter of the engagement. In addition, if the engaging party chooses not to 3 designate the Third-Party Expert as a testifying expert, the non-engaging party shall be 4 barred from seeking discovery or trial testimony as to the scope or subject matter of the 5 6 engagement. 7 13. Information designated “Confidential” must be viewed only by: 8 a. Counsel of the receiving party; 9 10 b. Third-Party Experts (pursuant to the terms of paragraph 12); 11 c. court personnel; 12 d. Professional Vendors; 13 14 e. any person indicated on the face of the document to be its originator, author or 15 a recipient of a copy of the document; and 16 f. no more than three (3) designated party executives or technical employees of 17 18 the receiving party who need to review the information for purposes of the case or for 19 preparation for trial; any such individuals must execute the Disclosure Agreement at 20 21 Exhibit A and be identified to the other party. Those individuals include those listed in 22 Exhibit B. 23 14. All information which has been designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or 24 25 "CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY" by the producing or disclosing 26 party and any and all reproductions of that information, must be retained in the custody 27 of the Counsel for the receiving party identified in paragraph 3, except that Third-Party 28 2 custody of copies such as are necessary for their participation in this litigation. 3 15. Before any Materials produced in discovery, answers to interrogatories, 4 responses to requests for admissions, deposition transcripts, or other documents which 5 6 are designated as Confidential Information are filed with the Court for any purpose, the 7 party seeking to file such material must seek permission of the Court to file the material 8 under seal and comply with Local Rule 141. 9 10 16. At any stage of these proceedings, any party may object to a designation of 11 the Materials as Confidential Information. The party objecting to confidentiality must 12 notify, in writing, to Counsel for the designating party of the objected-to Materials and 13 14 the grounds for the objection. The burden of proving that the designation is proper shall 15 be upon the designating party. If the dispute is not resolved consensually between the 16 parties within seven (7) days of receipt of such a notice of objections, the objecting 17 18 party may move the Court for a ruling on the objection, including a statement that the 19 parties conferred on the topic and were unable to reach agreement. The Materials at 20 21 issue must be treated as Confidential Information, as designated by the designating 22 party, until the Court has ruled on the objection or the matter has been otherwise 23 resolved. 24 25 17. All Confidential Information must be held in confidence by those 26 inspecting or receiving it and must be used only for purposes of this action. Counsel for 27 each party, and each person receiving Confidential Information must take reasonable 28 2 Confidential Information is disclosed to any person other than a person authorized by 3 this Order, the party responsible for the unauthorized disclosure must immediately bring 4 all pertinent facts relating to the unauthorized disclosure to the attention of the other 5 6 parties and, without prejudice to any rights and remedies of the other parties, make 7 every effort to prevent further disclosure by the party and by the person(s) receiving the 8 unauthorized disclosure. 9 10 18. No party will be responsible to another party for disclosure of Confidential 11 Information under this Order if the information in question is not labeled or otherwise 12 identified as such in accordance with this Order. 13 14 19. If a party, through inadvertence, produces any Confidential Information 15 without labeling or marking or otherwise designating it as such in accordance with this 16 Order, the designating party may give written notice to the receiving party that the 17 18 document or thing produced is deemed Confidential Information, and that the document 19 or thing produced should be treated as such in accordance with that designation under 20 21 this Order. The receiving party must treat the Materials as confidential, once the 22 designating party so notifies the receiving party. If the receiving party has disclosed the 23 Materials before receiving the designation, the receiving party must notify the 24 25 designating party in writing of each such disclosure. Counsel for the parties will agree 26 on a mutually acceptable manner of labeling or marking the inadvertently produced 27 28 2 SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER.” 3 20. Nothing within this order will prejudice the right of any party to object to 4 the production of any discovery material on the grounds that the material is protected as 5 6 privileged or as attorney work product. 7 21. No individual (including Counsel, attorneys, agents, paralegals, support 8 staff, and any Third-Party Expert) who receives material designated as 9 10 “CONFIDENTIAL —ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY” under the terms of this Order that 11 is not publicly known and that relates to the subject matter of a pending patent 12 application or undisclosed invention or photoluminescent method, system, or apparatus, 13 14 in whole or in part (including without limitation any exit sign or emergency signage 15 products or methods of manufacture), shall prosecute any patent application or 16 participate in the prosecution of any patent application (including but not limited to any 17 18 division, continuation, continuation-in-part, reissue, reexamination, renewal, extension, 19 or any foreign counterpart) on behalf of the receiving party in the field of 20 21 photoluminescent signage and pigments including methods of manufacture or 22 production of those products, for any application during this litigation or for any 23 application claiming a priority date earlier than one (1) year after the final conclusion of 24 25 this litigation, including appeals; provided that nothing in this paragraph shall operate to 26 preclude any such person from fulfilling and/or assisting in the fulfillment of any prior- 27 art disclosure obligations to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) 28 2 litigation. 3 22. This Order will be without prejudice to the right of any party to oppose 4 production of any information for lack of relevance or any other ground other than the 5 6 mere presence of Confidential Information. The existence of this Order must not be 7 used by either party as a basis for discovery that is otherwise improper under the 8 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 9 10 23. Nothing within this order will be construed to prevent disclosure of 11 Confidential Information if such disclosure is required by law or by order of the Court. 12 24. At the conclusion of this action, including through all appeals, each party 13 14 or other person subject to the terms hereof shall be under an obligation to destroy or 15 return to the producing party all Materials and documents containing CONFIDENTIAL 16 or CONFIDENTIAL– ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY and to certify to the producing 17 18 party such destruction or return. The written certification must be provided to the 19 producing party no later than sixty (60) days after the final conclusion of this action. 20 21 Such return or destruction shall not relieve said parties or persons from any of the 22 continuing obligations imposed upon them by this Order. 23 25. After this action, Counsel for each party may retain one archive copy of all 24 25 documents and discovery material even if they contain or reflect another party’s 26 CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION or CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION – 27 28 2 obligations of this Order. 3 26. The restrictions and obligations set forth within this Order will not 4 apply to any information that: (a) the parties agree should not be designated 5 6 Confidential Information; (b) the parties agree, or the Court rules, is already public 7 knowledge; (c) the parties agree, or the Court rules, has become public knowledge other 8 than as a result of disclosure by the receiving party, its employees, or its agents in 9 10 violation of this Order; or (d) has come or will come into the receiving party's 11 legitimate knowledge independently of the production by the designating party. Prior 12 knowledge must be established by pre-production documentation. 13 14 27. The restrictions and obligations within this Order will not be deemed to 15 prohibit discussions of any Confidential Information with anyone if that person already 16 has or obtains legitimate possession of that information. 17 18 28. The parties hereto also acknowledge that regardless of the producing 19 party’s diligence an inadvertent production of attorney-client privileged or attorney 20 21 work product Materials may occur. In accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(5) and 22 Fed. R. Evid. 502, they therefore agree that if a party through inadvertence produces or 23 provides discovery that it believes is subject to a claim of attorney-client privilege or 24 25 attorney work product, the producing party may give written notice to the receiving 26 party that the document or thing is subject to a claim of attorney-client privilege or 27 attorney work product and request that the document or thing be returned to the 28 2 or thing. Return of the document or thing shall not constitute an admission or 3 concession, or permit any inference, that the returned document or thing is, in fact, 4 properly subject to a claim of attorney-client privilege or attorney work product, nor 5 6 shall it foreclose any party from moving the Court pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(5) 7 and Fed. R. Evid. 502 for an Order that such document or thing has been improperly 8 designated or should be produced. 9 10 29. Any third party producing Materials, documents or things or giving 11 testimony in this action pursuant to a subpoena, notice or request may designate said 12 documents, things, or testimony as CONFIDENTIAL or CONFIDENTIAL– 13 14 ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY. The parties agree that they will treat CONFIDENTIAL 15 or CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY produced by third parties 16 according to the terms of this Order. 17 18 30. Transmission by email or some other currently utilized method of 19 transmission is acceptable for all notification purposes within this Order. 20 21 31. This Order is without prejudice to the right of any party, person or entity to 22 seek a modification of this Order at any time either through stipulation or Order of the 23 Court. 24 25 32. The Court may modify the terms and conditions of this Order for good 26 cause, or in the interest of justice, or on its own order at any time in these proceedings. 27 28 2 modify the Order and the content of those modifications, prior to entry of such an order. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 Respectfully submitted, 3 Richard T. Matthews (NC Bar No. 32817) 4 rmatthews@williamsmullen.com Robert C. Van Arnam (NC Bar No. 28838) 5 rvanarnam@williamsmullen.com 6 Andrew R. Shores (NC Bar No. 46600) ashores@williamsmullen.com 7 Williams Mullen 8 301 Fayetteville Street, Suite 1700 Raleigh, NC 27601 9 Telephone: (919) 981-4000 10 Facsimile: (919) 984-4300 11 Oliver W. Wanger (40331) 12 owanger@wjhattorneys.com Christopher A. Lisieski (321862) 13 clisieski@wjhattorneys.com 14 WANGER JONES HELSLEY PC 265 E. River Park Circle, Suite 310 15 Fresno, California 93720 16 Telephone: (559) 233-4800 Facsimile: (559) 233-9330 17 18 Attorneys for Plaintiff AfterGlow, LLC 19 MARK D. MILLER (Ca. Bar. No. 116349) 20 SIERRA IP LAW, PC 21 7030 N. Fruit Ave., Ste. 110 Fresno, CA 93711 22 Telephone: (559) 436-3800 23 Facsimile: (559) 436-4800 24 Christopher B. Hadley (admitted pro hac vice – Utah Bar No. 25 14055) JONES WALDO HOLBROOK & MCDONOUGH PC 26 1441 West Ute. Blvd., Suite 330 27 Park City, Utah 84098 Tel.: (435) 200-0085 28 chadley@joneswaldo.com Eric P. Lee (admitted pro hac vice – Utah Bar No. 4870) 2 HOGGAN LEE HUTCHINSON 1225 Deer Valley Drive, Suite 201 3 Park City, Utah 84060 4 Tel.: (435) 615-2264 Eric@hlhparkcity.com 5 6 Attorneys for Defendant and Counter-Plaintiff BRIGHT PATH LIGHTING, INC., a California Corporation 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of _________________ [print 4 5 or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 6 Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of 7 California on [date] in Case No. 1:19-cv-00535-BAM captioned as AfterGlow, LLC., Plaintiff v. 8 Bright Path Lighting, Inc., Defendant. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of 9 this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could 10 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not 11 disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to 12 13 any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 To the extent I have been given access to Confidential Information, I will not in any way 15 disclose, discuss, or exhibit such information except to those persons whom I know (a) are authorized 16 under the Order to have access to such information, and (b) have executed a Disclosure Agreement. I 17 will return, on request, all Materials containing Confidential Information, copies thereof and notes that 18 I have prepared relating thereto, to Counsel for the party with whom I am associated. 19 20 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Eastern 21 District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if 22 such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 23 24 Date: ______________________________________ 25 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 26 Printed name: _______________________________ 27 Signature: __________________________________ 28 2 LIST OF DESIGNATED PARTY EXECUTIVES OR TECHNICAL PERSONELL WHO CAN REVIEW “CONFIDENTIAL” MATERIAL FROM THE OTHER PARTY 3 PLAINTIFF – AFTERGLOW 4 5 1. Richard Martin 6 DEFENDANT – BRIGHTPATH 7 1. Kach Hovanessian 2. Laura Davis 8 3. Cindi Hernandez. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 The Court adopts the stipulated protective order submitted by the parties. The parties are 3 advised that pursuant to the Local Rules of the United States District Court, Eastern District of 4 California, any documents subject to this protective order to be filed under seal must be accompanied 5 by a written request which complies with Local Rule 141 prior to sealing. The party making a request 6 to file documents under seal shall be required to show good cause for documents attached to a non- 7 dispositive motion or compelling reasons for documents attached to a dispositive motion. Pintos v. 8 Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-78 (9th Cir. 2009). Within five (5) days of any approved 9 document filed under seal, the party shall file a redacted copy of the sealed document. The redactions 10 shall be narrowly tailored to protect only the information that is confidential or was deemed 11 confidential. Additionally, the parties shall consider resolving any dispute arising under this 12 protective order according to the Court’s informal discovery dispute procedures. 13 IT IS SO ORDERED. 14 15 Dated: October 4, 2019 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28