Smartco International Asia Limited v. Charles Brian Gross

United States District Court for the Central District of California

Smartco International Asia Limited v. Charles Brian Gross

Trial Court Opinion

1 HANSON BRIDGETT LLP LAWRENCE M. CIRELLI, SBN 114710 2 [email protected] ROBERT A. MCFARLANE, SBN 172650 3 [email protected] DAVID J. PARTIDA, SBN 304996 4 [email protected] 425 Market Street, 26th Floor 5 San Francisco, California 94105 Telephone: (415) 777-3200 6 Facsimile: (415) 541-9366 7 HANSON BRIDGETT LLP RAFFI V. ZEROUNIAN, SBN 236388 8 [email protected] 777 S. Figueroa Street, Suite 4200 9 Los Angeles, California 90017 Telephone: (213) 395-7620 10 Facsimile: (213) 395-7615 11 Attorneys for Defendants CHARLES BRIAN GROSS, 12 BREWISTA, INC., and SMART ASSOCIATES, INC. 13 14 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 15 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 16 SMARTCO INTERNATIONAL Case No. 8:20-cv-00626-RGK-AFM 17 (ASIA) LIMITED, a limited liability company organized under the British [PROPOSED] STIPULATED 18 Virgin Islands; ETERNAL EAST (HK) PROTECTIVE ORDER1 LIMITED, a limited liability company 19 organized under the laws of Hong Kong, 20 Plaintiffs, 21 v. 22 CHARLES BRIAN GROSS; Action Filed: 3/30/2020 23 BREWISTA, INC., a Wyoming corporation; SMART ASSOCIATES, 24 INC., a Wyoming corporation; and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive, 25 Defendants. 26 27 1 This Stipulated Protective Order is based substantially on the model protective 1 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 3 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public 4 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 5 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 6 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 7 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 8 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 9 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 10 under the applicable legal principles. 11 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 12 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and 13 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or 14 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and 15 from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 16 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other 17 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding 18 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or 19 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third 20 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be 21 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, 22 court rules, case decisions, or common law. The protections of this stipulated 23 protective order are particularly needed in this matter because each party believes 24 that discovery may require disclosure of financial information and business 25 strategies that can be competitively harmful if disclosed to third parties or used for 26 purposes unrelated to this litigation, and needs to ensure that their respective 27 valuable, confidential, and proprietary business information is maintained as 1 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery 2 materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep 3 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of 4 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling 5 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such 6 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information 7 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 8 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, 9 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 10 record of this case. 11 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER 12 SEAL 13 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, 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 16 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court 17 to file 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, 23 Inc.,

187 F.R.D. 576, 577

(E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders 24 require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling 25 reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with 26 respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere 27 designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— 1 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or 2 otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 3 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 4 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the 5 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. 6 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n.,

605 F.3d 665, 677-79

(9th Cir. 2010). For 7 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced 8 under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking 9 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal 10 justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting 11 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 12 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 13 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. 14 If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, 15 omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the 16 document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in 17 their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 18 2. DEFINITIONS 19 20 2.1 Action: Smartco International (Asia) Limited et al. v. Gross et al., Case 21 No. 8:20-cv-00626-RGK-AFM (C.D. Cal.). 22 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 23 of information or items under this Order. 24 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 25 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 26 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 27 the Good Cause Statement. 1 their support staff). 2 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 3 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 4 “CONFIDENTIAL.” 5 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 6 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 7 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 8 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 9 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 10 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 11 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 12 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 13 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 14 counsel. 15 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or 16 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 17 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 18 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 19 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 20 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 21 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 22 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 23 support staffs). 24 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 25 Discovery Material in this Action. 26 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support 27 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, interpreting, preparing 1 medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 2 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 3 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 4 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 5 from a Producing Party. 6 3. SCOPE 7 8 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 9 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 10 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 11 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 12 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 13 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 14 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 15 4. DURATION 16 17 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 18 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced 19 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all 20 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by 21 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance 22 of the trial. See Kamakana,

447 F.3d at 1180-81

(distinguishing “good cause” 23 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 24 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 25 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 26 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 27 1 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 2 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 3 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 4 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written 5 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items 6 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably 7 within the ambit of this Order. 8 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 9 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 10 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 11 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 12 Party to sanctions. 13 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 14 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 15 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 16 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 17 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 18 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 19 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 20 produced. 21 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 22 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 23 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 24 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 25 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 26 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for 27 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) 1 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 2 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 3 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 4 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 5 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the 6 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 7 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before 8 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 9 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a 10 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also 11 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings 12 in the margins). 13 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 14 advise the Receiving Party of the specific pages to be maintained in confidence 15 within thirty (30) days after the receipt of the transcript or as otherwise agreed by 16 the Designating Party and the Receiving Party. During this period, the entire 17 transcript shall be deemed to be “CONFIDENTIAL” 18 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 19 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place 20 on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the 21 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information 22 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the 23 protected portion(s). 24 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to 25 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the 26 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 27 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make 1 provisions of this Order. 2 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 3 4 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 5 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 6 Scheduling Order. 7 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 8 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 9 6.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 10 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 11 6.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 12 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 13 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 14 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 15 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 16 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 17 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 18 challenge. 19 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 20 21 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 22 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 23 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such 24 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 25 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 26 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 27 DISPOSITION). 1 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 2 authorized under this Order. 3 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 4 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 5 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 6 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 7 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, 8 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 9 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 10 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) 11 of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 12 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 13 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 14 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 15 (d) the court and its personnel; 16 (e) court reporters and their staff; 17 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 18 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action 19 and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit 20 A); 21 (g) any insurance broker or insurance provider to whom disclosure is 22 reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment 23 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 24 (h) the author or recipient of a document containing the information 25 or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 26 (i) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, 27 in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing 1 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 2 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 3 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 4 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 5 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 6 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 7 (j) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting 8 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement 9 discussions. 10 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 11 IN OTHER LITIGATION 12 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 13 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 14 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 15 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 16 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 17 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or 18 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 19 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include 20 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 21 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 22 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 23 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 24 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 25 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the 26 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s 27 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking 1 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action 2 to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 3 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 4 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 5 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced 6 by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such 7 information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected 8 by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions 9 should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 10 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, 11 to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 12 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 13 confidential information, then the Party shall: 14 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the 15 Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a 16 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 17 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the 18 Stipulated Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 19 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 20 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by 21 the Non-Party, if requested. 22 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 23 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving 24 Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the 25 discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving 26 Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to 27 the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the 1 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 2 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 3 4 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 5 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 6 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 7 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 8 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 9 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 10 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 11 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 12 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 13 PROTECTED MATERIAL 14 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 15 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 16 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 17 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 18 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without 19 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar 20 as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 21 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 22 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 23 to the court. 24 12. MISCELLANEOUS 25 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 26 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 27 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 1 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 2 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 3 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 4 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 5 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 6 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 7 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 8 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 9 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 10 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 11 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 12 13 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 14 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 15 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 16 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 17 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 18 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 19 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 20 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 21 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 22 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 23 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 24 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 25 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 26 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 27 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such 1 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 2 Section 4 (DURATION). 3 14. VIOLATION 4 5 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures 6 including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions. 7 8 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 9 DATED: May 15, 2020 HANSON BRIDGETT LLP 10 By: /s/ David J. Partida 11 LAWRENCE M. CIRELLI 12 ROBERT A. McFARLANE RAFFI V. ZEROUNIAN 13 DAVID J. PARTIDA 14 Attorneys for Defendants CHARLES BRIAN GROSS, 15 BREWISTA, INC., and 16 SMART ASSOCIATES, INC. 17 DATED: May 15, 2020 SQUIRE PATTON BOGGS (US) LLP 18 By: /s/ Helen H. Yang 19 JOSEPH A. MECKES 20 HELEN H. YANG JOY CHEN 21 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 22 SMARTCO INTERNATIONAL (ASIA) 23 LIMITED and ETERNAL EAST (HK) LIMITED 24 25 26 27 | ATTESTATION CLAUSE 2 I, David J. Partida, am the ECF User whose ID and password are being used to file this STIPULATION TO EXTEND TIME FOR DEFENDANTS CHARLES 4 || BRIAN GROSS, BREWISTA, INC. AND SMART ASSOCIATES, INC. TO 5 || RESPOND TO INITIAL COMPLAINT BY NOT MORE THAN 30 DAYS (L.R. 8- 6113). In compliance with Local Rule 5-4.3.4, I hereby attest that all other signatories listed, and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the filing's content and 8 ll have authorized the filing. 9 DATED: May 15, 2020 HANSON BRIDGETT LLP Il By: /s/ David J. Partida 12 David J. Partida 13 14 ORDER 15 16 || The parties’ stipulation is approved. It is hereby ORDERED that the Protective Order is entered in accordance with the parties’ Stipulation. 18 19 DATED: 5/18/2020

0 (Wy Moe ke as, 21 22 || HON. ALEXANDER F. MacKINNON 53 United States Magistrate Judge 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 4 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury 5 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that 6 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California 7 on [date] in the case of ___________ Smartco International (Asia) Limited et al. v. 8 Gross et al., Case No. 8:20-cv-00626-RGK-AFM (C.D. Cal.). I agree to comply 9 with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I 10 understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions 11 and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not 12 disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated 13 Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the 14 provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the 16 Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective 17 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action. 18 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of 19 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and 20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 22 Order. 23 Date: ______________________________________ 24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 25 Printed name: _______________________________ 26 27 Signature: __________________________________

Reference

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