Deerpoint Group, Inc. v. GAR Bennett LLC ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, FRESNO DIVISION 10 11 DEERPOINT GROUP, INC., an Illinois Case No. 1:23-cv-01340-JLT-BAM 12 corporation, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 13 Plaintiff, 14 v. 15 GAR BENNETT LLC, a Delaware limited 16 liability company, 17 Defendant. 18 AND RELATED COUNTERCLAIMS. 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 Pursuant to Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Plaintiff DEERPOINT 2 GROUP, INC. (“Plaintiff” or “Deerpoint”) and Defendant GAR BENNETT LLC (“Defendant” or 3 “GAR”), through counsel undersigned, jointly submit this Stipulated Protective Order to govern the 4 handling of information and materials produced in the course of discovery or filed with the Court in 5 advance of trial in this action. 6 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT PURSUANT TO L.R. 141.1(c) 7 Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of 8 confidential, proprietary, trade secret, or private information for which special protection from 9 public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be 10 warranted. Accordingly, the Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following 11 Stipulated Protective Order. The Parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket 12 protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery, and that the protection it affords from public 13 disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential 14 treatment under applicable legal principles. It is the intent of the Parties and the Court that 15 information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons in this case, and that nothing 16 will be so designated without a good faith belief that there is good cause as to why information 17 should not be part of the public record. 18 Statement Under L.R. 141.1(c)(1): Examples of confidential information that the parties 19 may seek to protect from unrestricted or unprotected disclosure include: 20 a) Information that is the subject of a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement or 21 obligation; 22 b) The names of a party’s vendors, distributors, or customers (or other information 23 tending to reveal their identities); 24 c) Agreements with third-parties; 25 d) Research and development information; 26 e) Proprietary chemical formulations, mechanical, engineering, or other technical 27 information, including product design, manufacturing techniques, processing information, 1 f) Information related to budgets, sales, profits, costs, margins, product pricing, or other 2 internal financial/accounting information, including non-public information related to 3 financial condition or performance and income or other non-public tax information; 4 g) Information showing the price or other information related to the terms of sale or 5 purchase of products and materials relevant to this case; 6 h) Information related to internal operations, including personnel information; 7 i) Information related to past, current, and future product development; 8 j) Information related to past, current, and future market analyses and business and 9 marketing development, including plans, strategies, forecasts and competition; and, 10 k) Trade secrets (as defined by the jurisdiction in which the information is located). 11 Statement Under L.R. 141.1(c)(2): Generally speaking, information and documents shall 12 only be designated under this protective order because the Designating Party believes the 13 information or documents are proprietary, confidential, and/or trade secret information that the 14 Designating Party would not release publicly. Unrestricted or unprotected disclosure of such 15 confidential, technical, commercial, trade secret, or personal information would result in prejudice 16 or harm to the Producing Party by revealing the Producing Party’s competitive confidential 17 information. Such information will have been developed at the expense of the Producing Party and 18 represent valuable tangible and intangible assets of that party. Additionally, privacy interests must 19 be safeguarded. Accordingly, the parties respectfully submit that there is good cause for the entry 20 of this Protective Order. 21 Statement Under L.R. 141.1(c)(3): The Parties submit that protecting the confidential 22 nature of information in this way will be most efficient for the Parties and the Court. That is because 23 the liability issues in this patent infringement and trade secret case will involve the mutual exchange 24 of documents and other information that each Party may consider to be its proprietary, confidential, 25 and trade secret information. Remedies issues in this case are likely to involve the mutual exchange 26 of business-sensitive financial, pricing, and related information. The Parties have met and conferred 27 on this issue and agree that any private agreement between the parties to safeguard this information 1 dispositive motions. 2 3 PROTECTIVE ORDER 4 1. DEFINITIONS. 5 The term “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” shall mean and include those CONFIDENTIAL 6 documents, answers to interrogatories, responses to requests for admission, depositions, affidavits, 7 expert reports, legal briefs or memoranda, and portions of such materials, and information derived 8 therefrom which the Designating Party in good faith believes is highly confidential such that, if 9 disclosed to the Receiving Party, might cause competitive harm to the Designating Party. 10 Information and material that may be subject to this protection includes, but is not limited to, 11 financial statements, proprietary technical and/or research and development data, documents related 12 to intellectual property in development or which is the subject of a non-public application, financial, 13 marketing and other sales data (such as actual or prospective customer lists, actual or prospective 14 vendor lists, purchase prices, and sales pricing), trade secrets, scientific and/or technical 15 information, proprietary items or information, and/or information having strategic commercial value 16 pertaining to the Designating Party’s trade or business. Additionally, relevant documents related to 17 an individual’s employment or employment related disclosures shall be made pursuant to a 18 “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” designation to protect the privacy of these individuals. 19 The term “Challenging Party” shall mean a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 20 designation of information or items under this Order. 21 The term “Confidential” shall mean information (regardless of how it is generated, 22 stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of Civil 23 Procedure 26(c). 24 The term “Counsel” shall mean the attorneys of record for any party in this action, 25 their associates and their staff. If any party seeks to add counsel of record or substitute counsel of 26 record, then no “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” Documents and information shall be 27 discussed to such additional or substitute counsel until they have agreed to this stipulation by 1 The term “Designated In-House Counsel” shall have the meaning ascribed to it in 2 Paragraph 7. 3 The term “Designating Party” shall mean a Party or Non-Party that designates 4 information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “Confidential” 5 or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” 6 The term “Documents” shall have the same meaning as the terms “documents and 7 electronically stored information” as used in Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 8 The term “Expert” shall mean a person with specialized knowledge or experience in 9 a matter pertinent to this litigation who has been retained by a Party to serve as an expert witness or 10 as a consultant in this litigation and who, at the time of retention, is not anticipated to become an 11 officer, director, or employee of a Party. Nothing in this Protective Order purports to alter in any 12 way the requirements for offering testimony under Fed. R. Evid. 703, or to define the term “expert” 13 for purposes other than those addressed in this Protective Order. 14 The term “Non-Party” shall mean any natural person, partnership, corporation, 15 association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 16 The term “Party” shall mean any party to this action, including all of its officers, 17 directors, and employees. 18 The term “Producing Party” shall mean a Party or Non-Party that produces 19 information or other discovery material in this action. 20 The term “Professional Vendors” shall mean persons or entities that provide 21 litigation support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 22 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their 23 employees and subcontractors. 24 The term “Protected Material” shall mean any information or other discovery 25 material that is designated as “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” 26 The term “Receiving Party” shall mean a Party that receives information or other 27 discovery material from a Producing Party. 1 A. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each 2 Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take 3 care to limit any such designations. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those 4 parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that warrant protection under 5 Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure so that other portions of the material, documents, 6 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within 7 the ambit of this Order. Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. 8 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose 9 (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber or retard the case development process or to impose unnecessary 10 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions. If it comes 11 to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for protection do not 12 qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is 13 withdrawing the mistaken designation. 14 B. Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this 15 Order or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, discovery material and information that qualify for 16 protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 17 produced. The Designating Party must use reasonable efforts to ensure that the applicable legend 18 appears on each page of each file produced, as permitted by the particular format of a given 19 Document. 20 C. Materials Subject to Designation. Each party to this litigation may designate 21 any Document, thing, interrogatory answer, admission, deposition testimony, and portions of such 22 materials, or other information which it has provided or which a third-party has provided as 23 “Confidential” and/or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” in accordance with this Protective Order. The party 24 designating such information as “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” shall be known as the 25 “Designating Party” and the designation shall be set out thereon. In designating Documents or 26 information as “Confidential,” the Designating Party’s counsel shall make a good faith 27 determination, before applying the designation, that the information warrants protection under Rule 1 “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” the Designating Party’s counsel shall make a good faith determination that 2 the information warrants protection under Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and 3 also warrants protection from disclosure to the party receiving the Documents or information due to 4 a risk of competitive harm. 5 D. Designating Originals or Tangible Items. In the event the Producing Party 6 elects to produce original Documents and things for inspection rather than produce copies of 7 Documents, no marking need be made by the Producing Party in advance of the initial inspection. 8 Thereafter, upon selection of specified Documents for copying by the inspecting party, the 9 Producing Party shall mark the copies of such Documents as may contain protected subject matter 10 with the appropriate confidentiality marking at the time the copies are produced to the inspecting 11 party. Said marking shall not delay the production of the copies. Information obtained by counsel 12 from initial review of Documents, whether in written form or not, shall be maintained as 13 “Confidential” unless such information is produced without a designation of confidentiality, or as 14 otherwise designated by the Producing Party. 15 E. Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure 16 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s 17 right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a 18 designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated 19 in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 20 F. Production by Non-Parties. Documents produced by Non-Parties shall be 21 provisionally designated as “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” for a period of 14 days from the date of 22 production, during which period any Party may designate any portion of the production as 23 “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” 24 3. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS. 25 A. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation 26 of confidentiality at any time. A Party does not waive its right to challenge a confidentiality 27 designation by electing not to mount a challenge promptly after the original designation is disclosed. 1 process by providing written notice of each designation it is challenging and describing the basis for 2 each challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to whether a challenge has been made, the written notice 3 must recite that the challenge to confidentiality is being made in accordance with this specific 4 paragraph of the Protective Order. The parties shall attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith 5 and must begin the process by conferring directly (in voice-to-voice dialogue; other forms of 6 communication are not sufficient) within five (5) days of the date of service of notice or as soon as 7 practicable thereafter. In conferring, the Challenging Party must explain the basis for its belief that 8 the confidentiality designation was not proper and must give the Designating Party an opportunity 9 to review the designated material, to reconsider the circumstances, and, if no change in designation 10 is offered, to explain the basis for the chosen designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the 11 next stage of the challenge process only if it has engaged in this meet and confer process first or 12 establishes that the Designating Party is unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in a 13 timely manner. 14 C. Judicial Intervention. If the Parties cannot resolve a challenge without court 15 intervention, the Designating Party shall file and serve a motion to retain confidentiality within 16 seven (7) days of the parties agreeing that the meet and confer process will not resolve their dispute. 17 Any motion seeking relief from the Court must comply with Local Rule 251, including the Joint 18 Statement requirement, and Hon. Magistrate Judge McAuliffe’s Standing Order ¶ 5. Each such 19 motion must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied 20 with the meet and confer requirements imposed in the preceding paragraph. Failure by the 21 Designating Party to make such a motion, including the required declaration within seven (7) days 22 following the meet and confer shall waive the confidentiality designation for each challenged 23 designation. In addition, the Challenging Party may file a motion challenging a confidentiality 24 designation at any time if there is good cause for doing so, including a challenge to the designation 25 of a deposition transcript or any portions thereof. Any motion brought pursuant to this provision 26 must be accompanied by a competent declaration affirming that the movant has complied with the 27 meet and confer requirements imposed by the preceding paragraph. 1 Designating Party. All parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection 2 to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 3 Nothing in this Paragraph 3(C) shall prevent the parties from jointly stipulating to 4 the Informal Telephonic Conference procedure set forth in Hon. Magistrate Judge McAuliffe’s 5 Standing Order ¶ 6. 6 4. ACCESS TO “CONFIDENTIAL” MATERIALS. 7 All information designated as “Confidential” shall not be disclosed to anyone other 8 than the parties, Counsel, Designated In-House Counsel, the Court and its personnel, court reporters 9 and/or videographers in the course of covering depositions, as well as any experts, consultants, and 10 Professional Vendors retained by any Party or its Counsel. All persons other than Counsel, the 11 Parties, Designated In-House Counsel, the Court, and the Court’s personnel in the instant action to 12 whom “Confidential” information is disclosed shall read this Protective Order in advance of such 13 disclosure and agree in writing to be bound by its terms. 14 “Confidential” information subject to this Protective Order shall be used by the 15 party(ies) to whom it is produced solely and exclusively for purposes of the above-captioned 16 litigation unless and until such designation is removed either by agreement of the Parties or by order 17 of the Court. 18 5. ACCESS TO “ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” MATERIALS. 19 All information designated as “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” by a Producing Party shall not 20 be disclosed by anyone other than the Producing Party to anyone other than the Court and its 21 personnel, Counsel, and court reporters and/or videographers in the course of covering depositions. 22 Any experts, consultants, and/or translators retained by Receiving Party’s Counsel may receive 23 “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” information provided they have agreed to this stipulation by executing 24 Exhibit A pursuant to Paragraph 6 below and provided that they are not employees or independent 25 contractors of the Receiving Party, nor of any the Receiving Party’s subsidiaries or affiliated 26 companies. 27 “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” information subject to this Protective Order shall be used by 1 until such designation is removed either by agreement of the Parties or by order of the Court. 2 6. EXPERTS & CONSULTANTS. 3 A. Persons Covered By This Provision. The procedure specified under 4 Paragraph 6(B) shall apply to Experts expressly retained by Counsel to assist in the preparation of 5 this litigation for trial, whether or not the Expert is expected to testify at trial or not, as well as any 6 personnel who support such Expert’s work under the Expert’s direction and supervision, and who 7 are necessary for the completion of that work. Disclosures to any such support personnel are to be 8 limited to only those disclosures necessary to assist the Expert. 9 B. Procedure for Designating Experts & Consultants Under the Protective 10 Order. As a condition precedent to disclosure of any Confidential and/or Attorneys’ Eyes Only 11 materials to an individual described in Paragraph 6(A) above, at least ten (10) days (as calculated 12 by Fed. R. Civ. P. 6) before the contemplated disclosure of the Confidential and/or Attorneys’ Eyes 13 Only information is to be made, Counsel for the Receiving Party shall serve a Notice on the 14 Producing Party identifying such individual by name and including a curriculum vitae (“CV”) or 15 equivalent resume disclosing the individual’s employment history, past or present relationship with 16 any of the Parties, all consulting engagements in the past four (4) years, all cases in which the 17 individual has testified in a deposition or a trial in the past four (4) years, and an executed 18 acknowledgment from the individual to whom the disclosure is to be made in the form of Exhibit A 19 attached hereto. If a Producing Party objects to the proposed disclosure to such individual, the 20 Parties shall promptly confer in good faith to resolve the concerns giving rise to the objection. If 21 the Parties are unable to reach agreement regarding such disclosure, the objecting Party must apply 22 to the Court for a protective order no later than ten (10) days (as calculated by Fed. R. Civ. P. 6) 23 after receipt of the executed acknowledgement in the form attached as Exhibit A and CV or resume. 24 The burden shall be on the objecting Party to demonstrate to the Court why such individual should 25 not be permitted to receive Confidential and/or Attorneys’ Eyes Only information under the 26 Protective Order. Confidential and/or Attorneys’ Eyes Only information shall not be disclosed to 27 such individual pending the Court’s resolution of the dispute. The foregoing ten (10) and ten (10) 1 the Court. 2 7. DESIGNATED IN-HOUSE COUNSEL. 3 As a condition precedent to disclosure of any Confidential materials to a Designated 4 In-House Counsel, at least ten (10) days (as calculated by Fed. R. Civ. P. 6) before the contemplated 5 disclosure of the Confidential information is to be made, Counsel for the Receiving Party shall serve 6 a Notice on the Producing Party identifying such individual by name and title, in addition to 7 providing a description of his/her primary job duties, and including an executed acknowledgment 8 from the individual to whom the disclosure is to be made in the form of Exhibit B attached hereto. 9 If a Producing Party objects to the proposed disclosure to such individual, the Parties shall promptly 10 confer in good faith to resolve the concerns giving rise to the objection. If the Parties are unable to 11 reach agreement regarding such disclosure, the objecting Party must apply to the Court for a 12 protective order no later than ten (10) days (as calculated by Fed. R. Civ. P. 6) after receipt of the 13 executed acknowledgement in the form attached as Exhibit B. The burden shall be on the objecting 14 Party to demonstrate to the Court why such individual should not be permitted to receive 15 Confidential information under the Protective Order. Confidential information shall not be 16 disclosed to such individual pending the Court’s resolution of the dispute. The foregoing ten (10) 17 and ten (10) day periods, respectively, may be extended or shortened by agreement of the Parties or 18 by Order of the Court. 19 8. STORAGE OF PROTECTED INFORMATION BY RECEIVING PARTY. 20 The recipient of any Confidential and/or Attorneys’ Eyes Only materials provided 21 under this Protective Order (including copies or excerpts made thereof) shall maintain such 22 information in a secure and safe area, and shall exercise reasonable and proper care with respect to 23 the storage, custody, use, and/or dissemination of such information. 24 9. TREATMENT OF PROTECTED MATERIAL AT DEPOSITIONS IN THIS 25 LITIGATION. 26 A. Deposition of the Authors and Recipients of Protected Material. With respect 27 to Documents designated as including “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only,” any person 1 Documents. Additionally, any Document designated as including “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ 2 Eyes Only” may be shown to any employee of the Designating Party and/or the party that produced 3 in this litigation the Document so designated during the deposition of that employee if it is 4 reasonably probable that the employee would have access to or knowledge of the information 5 contained in that Document. 6 B. Exclusion of Certain Persons From Protected Deposition Testimony. Any 7 Party shall have the right to exclude from attendance at a deposition, during such time as the 8 “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” Documents or information is to be disclosed, every 9 individual not entitled under the Protective Order to receipt of the information, excluding the 10 deponent and the court reporter and/or videographer. However, if a document designated 11 “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” is produced for the first time during the course of such deposition, the non- 12 designating Party shall be entitled to stay the deposition with respect to the subject Document. 13 C. Procedure for Designating Transcript Sections as Protected Material. 14 Whenever a deposition taken on behalf of any party involves a disclosure of “Confidential” or 15 “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” Documents or information of any party, said deposition or portions thereof 16 shall be designated as containing “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” subject to the provisions 17 of this Protective Order at the time the deposition is taken whenever possible; however, any Party 18 shall have until ten (10) days after receipt of the deposition transcript within which to designate, in 19 writing, those portions of the transcript it wishes to remain designated as “Confidential” or 20 “Attorneys’ Eyes Only,” and the right to make such designation shall be waived unless made within 21 the ten (10) day period. During such ten (10) day period, the entirety of the transcript shall be 22 deemed designated “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” to preserve the right of any Party to make a designation 23 of “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” during that ten (10) day period. The foregoing ten (10) 24 day period may be extended or shortened by agreement of the parties or by the Court. 25 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN 26 OTHER LITIGATION. 27 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issues in another litigation that 1 “Attorneys’ Eyes Only,” that Party must: 2 Promptly notify the Designating Party in writing. Such notification shall 3 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 4 Promptly notify, in writing, the party who caused the subpoena or order to 5 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is 6 subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective 7 Order; and 8 Cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by 9 the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 10 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 11 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as 12 “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” before a determination by the court from which the 13 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 14 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its 15 confidential material ― and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or 16 encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 17 11. PROTECTED MATERIAL OF A NON-PARTY SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED 18 IN THIS LITIGATION. 19 A. Applicability. The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced 20 by a Non-Party in this action and designated as “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” Such 21 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies 22 and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a 23 Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 24 B. Notice Procedure. In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery 25 request, to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject 26 to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then 27 the Party shall: 1 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 2 Promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective 3 Order in this litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of 4 the information requested; and 5 Make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party. 6 C. Disclosure and Remedy. If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective 7 order from this Court within fourteen (14) days of receiving the above notice and accompanying 8 information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive 9 to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall 10 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality 11 agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court. Absent a court order to the 12 contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this Court of its 13 Protected Material. 14 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL. 15 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 16 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated 17 Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (1) notify in writing the Designating Party 18 of the unauthorized disclosures, (2) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the 19 Protected Material, (3) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made 20 of all the terms of this Order, and (4) request such person or persons to execute the 21 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 22 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 23 PROTECTED MATERIAL. 24 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently 25 produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the 26 Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision 27 is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that 1 and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 2 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may 3 incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court. 4 14. FINAL DISPOSITION. 5 A. Upon Termination of this Action. Within sixty (60) days after a final 6 disposition of the action, which shall include entry of final judgment and the exhaustion of all rights 7 of appeal or a dismissal of the action, a Receiving Party shall either return to the Producing Party or 8 destroy all Documents and things or transcripts of depositions, together with all copies thereof, 9 which have been designated “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” Notwithstanding this 10 provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, 11 deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, 12 expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 13 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected 14 Material remain subject to this Protective Order. 15 B. Continuing Obligations. The termination of proceedings in this action shall 16 not thereafter relieve a person to whom “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” was disclosed 17 from the obligation of maintaining the confidentiality of such information in accordance with the 18 provisions of this Protective Order for a period of three (3) years, except that the continuing nature 19 of the obligations in this provision shall not apply to the Court or its personnel. 20 15. LIMITATIONS. 21 A. Attorneys’ Right to Counsel Clients. Nothing in this Protective Order shall 22 bar or otherwise restrict any attorney herein from rendering legal advice to the attorney’s Party- 23 client with respect to this action, and in the course thereof, relying upon an examination of 24 “Confidential” and/or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” Documents or information; provided, that in 25 rendering such legal advice and in otherwise communicating with the Party-client, the attorney shall 26 not disclose any “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” Documents or information to anyone not 27 authorized to receive such Documents, things, materials, or information pursuant to the terms of this 1 B. Filing Protected Materials. Any Documents produced in discovery, answers 2 to interrogatories, deposition transcripts, or other Documents that are filed with the Court for any 3 purpose and that incorporate information that is designated “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes 4 Only” shall be filed in compliance with Local Rule 141. 5 C. Reservation of Rights. Nothing in this Protective Order, nor the taking of any 6 action in accordance with the provisions of this Protective Order, nor the failure to object thereto, 7 shall be construed as a waiver or admission of any claim or defense of this action. Moreover, the 8 failure to designate information in accordance with this Order and the failure to object to a 9 designation at a given time shall not preclude the filing of a motion at a later date seeking to impose 10 such designation or challenging the propriety thereof. The entry of this Order shall not be construed 11 as a waiver of any right to object to the furnishing of information in response to discovery or to 12 object to a requested inspection of Documents or things, and, except as expressly provided, shall 13 not relieve any party of the obligation of producing information in the course of discovery. This 14 Order shall not in any way limit what the Producing Party may do with its own Documents or 15 information. 16 D. Meet and Confer In Advance of Trial. Subject to Paragraph 15(B) and the 17 Federal Rules of Evidence, Documents, material, and information designated “Confidential” or 18 “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” may be offered in evidence at any pre-trial hearing in the instant action 19 upon one (1) day’s written notice of the intention to do so or, if that is not possible, such shorter 20 notice as the circumstances permit. In the instant Action, any party may move the Court orally or 21 in writing for an order that the evidence be received in camera at a hearing or under other conditions 22 to prevent unnecessary disclosure. The party seeking to use Documents, material, and information 23 designated “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” must request that the portion of the proceeding 24 where use is made be conducted so as to exclude persons not qualified to receive such Documents, 25 material, and information. 26 The parties shall meet and confer concerning the use and protection of Documents, 27 material, and information designated “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” in open court at any 1 Prior to the pretrial conference, the parties shall meet and confer concerning 2 appropriate methods for dealing with Documents, material, and information designated 3 “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only” at trial. 4 16. MISCELLANEOUS. 5 A. Right to Seek Modification. The Parties may, by written stipulation, provide 6 for exceptions to this Protective Order, and any Party may seek an order of this Court modifying or 7 interpreting this Protective Order. No stipulation amending this Protective Order will have the force 8 or effect of a Court order absent the Court’s written approval of it. 9 B. Right to Further Relief. Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Protective 10 Order shall be deemed to preclude any Party from seeking and obtaining, on an appropriate showing, 11 additional protection with respect to the confidentiality or relief from this Protective Order regarding 12 matter designated as containing “Confidential” or “Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” 13 C. Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to entry of this Protective 14 Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any 15 information on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party 16 waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this 17 Protective Order. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 STIPULATION 2 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED by and among the parties, through their undersigned 3 counsel, that the foregoing Stipulated Protective Order may be entered in this action subject to the 4 consent of this Court. 5 DATED: December 15, 2023 Respectfully submitted, 6 KILPATRICK TOWNSEND & STOCKTON LLP 7 By: /s/ Jon Michaelson Jon Michaelson, # 83815 8 jmichaelson@kilpatricktownsend.com 1302 El Camino Real, Suite 175 9 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Telephone: 650.326.2400 10 Facsimile: 650.326.2422 11 Benjamin M. Kleinman, # 261846 bkleinman@kilpatricktownsend.com 12 Two Embarcadero Center, Suite 1900 San Francisco, CA 94111 13 Telephone: 415.576.0200 Facsimile: 415.576.0300 14 MCCORMICK, BARSTOW, SHEPPARD, 15 WAYTE & CARRUTH LLP David R. McNamara, # 133302 16 dave.mcnamara@mccormickbarstow.com Shane G. Smith, # 272630 17 shane.smith@mccormickbarstow.com 7647 North Fresno Street 18 Fresno, CA 93720 Telephone: 559.433.1300 19 Facsimile: 559.433.2300 20 Attorneys for Plaintiff and Counterdefendant DEERPOINT GROUP, INC. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 DATED: December 15, 2023 DICKINSON WRIGHT PLLC 2 By: /s/ Donald E. Lake, III DONALD E. LAKE, III (Pro Hac Vice) 3 TLake@dickinson-wright.com 1626 Wazee Street 4 Denver, CO 80202 5 Telephone: 303.723.8400 6 LAEL D. ANDARA, #215416 LAndara@dickinson-wright.com 7 615 National Avenue, Suite 220 Mountain View, CA 94043 8 Telephone: 408.701.6152 Facsimile: 844.670.6009 9 Attorneys for Defendant and Counterclaimant 10 GAR BENNETT LLC 11 12 -oOo- 13 SIGNATURE ATTESTATION 14 I hereby attest that concurrence has been obtained from Donald E. Lake, III, counsel for 15 Defendant GAR BENNETT LLC, as indicated by a “conformed” signature (/s/) within this e-filed 16 document. 17 /s/ Jon Michaelson 18 Jon Michaelson 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, __________________________________ [type or print full name] of 4 ___________________________________________________________________ [print or type 5 full address], hereby declare under penalty of perjury that I have read and am fully familiar with the 6 terms of the Protective Order entered in Deerpoint Group, Inc. v. Gar Bennett, LLC, Case No. 1:23- 7 cv-01340-JLT-BAM, and hereby agree to comply with and be bound by the terms and conditions 8 of said Order unless and until modified by further Order of the Court. 9 I acknowledge that I am about to receive Confidential Information and/or Attorneys’ Eyes 10 Only Information in said action, and hereby certify my understanding that such information is being 11 provided to me pursuant to the terms and restrictions of the Protective Order. I understand that such 12 information, and any copies I make of any material containing “Confidential” and/or “Attorneys’ 13 Eyes Only” information, or any notes or other records that may be made regarding any such 14 information, shall not be disclosed to others, except other persons that are identified in or have 15 agreed to comply with and be bound by the terms of the Protective Order. I hereby consent to the 16 jurisdiction of said Court for purposes of enforcing this Order, even if such enforcement proceedings 17 occur after termination of this action. 18 I hereby appoint _________________________________________[print or type full name] 19 of 20 _______________________________________________________________________________ 21 _______________________________________________________________________________ 22 ____________ [print or type full address, telephone number, and email address] as my California 23 agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement 24 of this Stipulated Protective Order. 25 Date: ______________________________________ 26 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 27 Printed Name: _______________________________ 1 EXHIBIT B 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND [DESIGNATED IN-HOUSE 3 COUNSEL] 4 I, __________________________________ [type or print full name] of 5 ___________________________________________________________________ [print or type 6 full address], hereby declare under penalty of perjury that I have read and am fully familiar with the 7 terms of the Protective Order entered in Deerpoint Group, Inc. v. Gar Bennett, LLC, Case No. 1:23- 8 cv-01340-JLT-BAM, and hereby agree to comply with and be bound by the terms and conditions 9 of said Order unless and until modified by further Order of the Court. 10 I acknowledge that I am about to receive Confidential Information in said action, and hereby 11 certify my understanding that such information is being provided to me pursuant to the terms and 12 restrictions of the Protective Order. I understand that such information, and any copies I make of 13 any material containing “Confidential” information, or any notes or other records that may be made 14 regarding any such information, shall not be disclosed to others, except other persons that are 15 identified in or have agreed to comply with and be bound by the terms of the Protective Order. I 16 hereby consent to the jurisdiction of said Court for purposes of enforcing this Order, even if such 17 enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 18 I hereby appoint _________________________________________[print or type full name] 19 of 20 _______________________________________________________________________________ 21 _______________________________________________________________________________ 22 ____________ [print or type full address, telephone number, and email address] as my California 23 agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement 24 of this Stipulated Protective Order. 25 Date: ______________________________________ 26 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 27 Printed Name: _______________________________ 1 ORDER 2 Having considered the above stipulation and finding good cause, the Court adopts the 3 stipulated protective order, as modified in Section 9(C) regarding the procedure for designating 4 transcript sections as protected material to clarify the ten-day period for the “Attorneys’ Eyes 5 Only” designation. 6 The parties are advised that pursuant to the Local Rules of the United States District Court, 7 Eastern District of California, any documents subject to the protective order to be filed under seal 8 must be accompanied by a written request which complies with Local Rule 141 prior to sealing. 9 The party making a request to file documents under seal shall be required to show good cause for 10 documents attached to a non-dispositive motion or compelling reasons for documents attached to 11 a dispositive motion. Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-78 (9th Cir. 2009). 12 Within five (5) days of any approved document filed under seal, the party shall file a redacted copy 13 of the sealed document. The redactions shall be narrowly tailored to protect only the information 14 that is confidential or was deemed confidential. 15 Additionally, the parties shall consider resolving any dispute arising under the protective 16 order according to the Court’s informal discovery dispute procedure. 17 18 IT IS SO ORDERED. 19 Dated: December 19, 2023 /s/ Barbara A. McAuliffe _ 20 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 21 22 23 24 25 26 27