Chap Mei Plastic Toys Manufactory Limited v. NKOK, Inc.

United States District Court for the Central District of California

Chap Mei Plastic Toys Manufactory Limited v. NKOK, Inc.

Trial Court Opinion

1 MICHAEL A. JACOBS (CA SBN 111664) 2 || JOYCE LIOU (CA SBN 277 79 EOIN CONNOLLY (Ca SBN 300373) 3 || MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP 425 Market Street 4 || San Francisco, CA 94105-2482 Telephone: 268-7000 5 || Facsimile: (415) 268-7522 [email protected] 6 || [email protected] 5 [email protected] BENJAMIN J. FOX (Ca SBN 193374) 8 | MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP 707 Wilshire Boulevard 9 || Los Angeles, California 90017-3543 Telephone: 213.892.5200 10 || Facsimile: 213.892.5454 [email protected] Attorneys for Plaintiff, 12 | CHAP MEI PLASTIC TOYS 3 MANUFACTORY LIMITED

14 15 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 16 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 17 18 19 CHAP MEI PLASTIC TOYS Case No. 2:22-cv-09403-FLA-PD 20 | MANUFACTORY LIMITED, NOTICE OF LODGING OF 21 Plaintiff, PROPOSED STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

22 V. 23

NKOK, INC., Trial Date: May 14, 2024 24 Defendant. 25 26 27 28

1 TO THE COURT, ALL PARTIES AND THEIR COUNSEL OF RECORD: 2 || PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that Plaintiff Chap Mei Plastic Toys Manufactory 3 || Limited lodges a Proposed Stipulated Protective Order for the Court’s approval. 4 || The Proposed Stipulated Protective Order is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 5 6 | Dated: Oct. 18, 2023 MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP By: /s/ Eoin Connolly 8 Eoin Connolly 9 Attorney for Plaintiff 10 MANUFACTORY LIMITED 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Exhibit A 1 Douglas M. Lipstone, Esq. (Cal. SBN 141104) 2 [email protected] Shanen R. Prout, Esq. (Cal. SBN 236137) 3 [email protected] 4 WEINBERG GONSER LLP 10866 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 1650 5 Los Angeles, CA 90024 6 Direct: (424) 239-2862 Fax: (424) 238-3060 7

8 Attorneys for Defendant NKOK, INC.

9 Michael A. Jacobs (CA SBN 111664) 10 Joyce Liou (CA SBN 277720) Eoin Connolly (CA SBN 300373) 11 MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP 12 425 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94105-2482 13 Telephone: (415) 268-7000 14 Facsimile: (415) 268-7522 [email protected] 15 [email protected] 16 [email protected]

17 Benjamin J. Fox (CA SBN 193374) 18 MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP 707 Wilshire Boulevard 19 Los Angeles, CA 90017-3543 20 Telephone: 213.892.5200 Facsimile: 213.892.5454 21 [email protected] 22 Attorneys for Plaintiff 23 CHAP MEI PLASTIC TOYS 24 MANUFACTORY LIMITED

25

26 27 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 CHAP MEI PLASTIC TOYS Case No. 2:22-cv-09403-FLA-PD 4 MANUFACTORY LIMITED, 5 Hon. Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha, Plaintiff, Room 6B 6

7 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER1 8 NKOK, INC., 9 Case filed: 12-28-2022

10 Defendant.

11 12

13 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 14 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 15 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 16 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be 17 warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter 18 the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order 19 does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and 20 that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the 21 limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the 22 applicable legal principles. 23 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 24 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and 25

26

27 1 This Stipulated Protective Order is substantially based on the model protective other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or 1 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and from 2 use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such 3 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other 4 things, confidential business or financial information, confidential information 5 concerning the identity of customers and customer preferences, the parties’ costs of 6 goods sold and pricing practices, information regarding confidential business 7 practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial information 8 (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), contracts, non- 9 public compilations of retail prices, supplier and vendor agreements, supplier and 10 vendor identities, supplier pricing information and commissions or fees paid to 11 suppliers, personnel files, nonpublic policies and procedures, as well as other 12 documents and information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which 13 may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal 14 statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the 15 flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over 16 confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties 17 are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable 18 necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to 19 address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a 20 protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the 21 parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons 22 and that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been 23 maintained in a confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it 24 should not be part of the public record of this case. 25 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL 26 27 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and 1 the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to 2 file material under seal. 3 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 4 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, 5 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 6 County of Honolulu,

447 F.3d 1172, 1176

(9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors 7 Corp.,

307 F.3d 1206

, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, 8 Inc.,

187 F.R.D. 576, 577

(E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require 9 good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons 10 with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect to 11 Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere designation 12 of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—without the 13 submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the material 14 sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise 15 protectable—constitute good cause. 16 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 17 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the 18 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. 19 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n,

605 F.3d 665, 677-79

(9th Cir. 2010). For each 20 item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under 21 seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking protection 22 must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal 23 justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting 24 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 25 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 26 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 27 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall 1 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety 2 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 3

4 2. DEFINITIONS 5 2.1 Action: the above-captioned pending federal law suit. 6 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation 7 of information or items under this Order. 8 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 9 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 10 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the 11 Good Cause Statement. 12 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 13 their support staff). 14 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 15 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 16 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 17 ONLY.” 18 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 19 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 20 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 21 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 22 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 23 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as 24 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 25 2.8 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” 26 Information or Items: extremely sensitive “Confidential Information or Items,” 27 serious harm that could not be avoided by less restrictive means. 1 2.9 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 2 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 3 counsel. 4 2.10 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 5 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 6 2.11 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party 7 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have 8 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which 9 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 10 2.12 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 11 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 12 support staffs). 13 2.13 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 14 Discovery Material in this Action. 15 2.14 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 16 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 17 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 18 and their employees and subcontractors. 19 2.15 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 20 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL,” or as “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 21 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 22 2.16 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material 23 from a Producing Party. 24

25 3. SCOPE 26 27 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 1 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 2 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 3 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 4 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 5

6 4. DURATION 7 8 FINAL DISPOSITION of the action is defined as the conclusion of any 9 appellate proceedings, or, if no appeal is taken, when the time for filing of an appeal 10 has run. Except as set forth below, the terms of this protective order apply through 11 FINAL DISPOSITION of the action. The parties may stipulate that they will be 12 contractually bound by the terms of this agreement beyond FINAL DISPOSITION, 13 but will have to file a separate action for enforcement of the agreement once all 14 proceedings in this case are complete. 15 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 16 CONFIDENTIAL, HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY, or 17 maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced as an exhibit at trial 18 becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of the public, 19 including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings 20 to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See 21 Kamakana,

447 F.3d at 1180-81

(distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 22 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits- 23 related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, for such materials, the 24 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 25 26 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 27 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under 1 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 2 qualifies under the appropriate standards. To the extent it is practical to do so, the 3 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, 4 documents, items, or oral or written communications that qualify so that other 5 portions of the material, documents, items, or communications for which protection 6 is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 7 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 8 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 9 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 10 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 11 Party to sanctions. 12 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 13 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 14 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 15 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 16 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 17 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 18 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 19 produced. 20 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 21 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 22 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 23 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 24 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 25 ONLY, (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains 26 protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies 27 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins) and must specify, for each 1 portion, the level of protection asserted. 2 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 3 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 4 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 5 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 6 deemed “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” After the 7 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the 8 Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for 9 protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the 10 Producing Party must affix the appropriate legend (“CONFIDENTIAL” or 11 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”) to each page that 12 contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 13 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 14 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins) and must specify, 15 for each portion, the level of protection asserted. 16 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify 17 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition 18 all protected testimony and specify the level of protection being asserted. 19 Alternatively, the Designating Party may designate information disclosed at the 20 deposition as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 21 EYES ONLY” by notifying the court reporter and other parties in writing, within 22 fifteen (15) days of receipt of the transcript, of the specific pages and lines of the 23 transcript which are designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 24 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” The parties may agree to a 25 reasonable extension of the 15-day period for designation. Designations of transcripts 26 will apply to audio, video, or other recordings of the testimony. During such 15-day 27 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” treatment. Upon such designation, the court reporter 1 and each party shall affix the appropriate legend (“CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 2 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”) to the designated pages and 3 segregate them as appropriate. 4 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 5 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 6 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 7 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 8 ONLY.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the 9 Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s) and 10 specify the level of protection being asserted. The Receiving Party shall mark any 11 hard-copy printouts and the storage medium of any permissible copies of such 12 electronic material with the corresponding legend contained on the original and such 13 copies shall become subject to the same protections as the information or items from 14 which those copies were made. 15 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 16 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 17 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 18 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 19 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 20 Order. 21 5.4 Withholding of Information. 22 5.4.1. Redactions. The parties may redact (1) information that is 23 privileged or protected from discovery as work product or by reason of any other 24 applicable privilege or immunity; and (2) information subject to non-disclosure 25 obligations imposed by governmental authorities, law or regulation (e.g., protected 26 personal information). Privilege redactions will state, over the redacted portion, 27 or the subject line of the emails, unless the subject line is itself privileged or contains 1 the sensitive information described above, in which case only so much of the subject 2 line will be redacted as may be needed. The parties will produce redacted documents 3 in TIFF format (or searchable PDF if production format dictates; or in native format 4 for file types that do not convert well to TIFF/PDF, such as Excel files) with 5 corresponding searchable OCR text and the associated metadata for the document, 6 ensuring the redacted content is fully protected from disclosure. 7

8 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 9 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 10 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 11 Scheduling Order. 12 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 13 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. 14 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on 15 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose 16 (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 17 expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived 18 or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the 19 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing 20 Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge. 21

22 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 23 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 24 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 25 Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 26 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 27 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL 1 DISPOSITION). 2 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 3 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 4 authorized under this Order. 5 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 6 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 7 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 8 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 9 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well 10 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary 11 to disclose the information for this Action; 12 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the 13 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 14 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 15 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 16 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 17 (d) the court and its personnel; 18 (e) court reporters and their staff; 19 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 20 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 21 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 22 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 23 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information; 24 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the 25 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 26 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will 27 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 1 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 2 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 3 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 4 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 5 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 6 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 7 7.3 Disclosure of “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 8 ONLY” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in 9 writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or 10 item designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” only 11 to: 12 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as 13 employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to 14 disclose the information for this litigation; 15 (b) Experts of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary 16 for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 17 Bound” (Exhibit A); 18 (c) the court and its personnel; 19 (d) court reporters and their staff, 20 (e) professional jury or trial consultants, and Professional Vendors to whom 21 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the 22 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); and 23 (f) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 24 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information. 25 26 7.4 Notwithstanding the foregoing, Protected Material shall not be 27 disclosed to any current or former employees of, or current or former consultants, 1 advisors, or agents of, a direct competitor of any party named in the litigation. If a 2 Receiving Party is in doubt about whether a particular entity is a direct competitor of 3 a party named in this lawsuit, then before disclosing any Protected Material to a 4 current or former employee, consultant, advisor, or agent of that entity, the Receiving 5 Party’s counsel must confer with counsel for the Producing Party. 6 7.5 Data Security. The Parties agree to provide adequate security to protect 7 data produced by the other party(ies) or by non-parties. At a minimum, any Receiving 8 Party subject to the terms of this Protective Order, will provide reasonable measures 9 to protect non-client data consistent with the American Bar Association Standing 10 Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Formal Opinion 477R.Data 11 Security.

12 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 13 IN OTHER LITIGATION 14 15 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 16 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 17 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 18 ONLY,” that Party must: 19 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall 20 include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 21 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 22 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena 23 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of 24 this Stipulated Protective Order; and 25 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued 26 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 27 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 1 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 2 EYES ONLY” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order 3 issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 4 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that 5 court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed 6 as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 7 directive from another court. 8

9 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT 10 TO BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 11 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 12 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 13 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” Such information produced by 14 Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 15 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as 16 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 17 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 18 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 19 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 20 confidential information, then the Party shall: 21 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 22 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement 23 with a Non-Party; 24 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 25 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 26 specific description of the information requested; and 27 Non-Party, if requested. 1 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 2 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 3 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 4 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall 5 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 6 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 7 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense 8 of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material. 9

10 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 11 12 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 13 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 14 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 15 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 16 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 17 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 18 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 19 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 20 Protected Material shall only be used for the purpose of litigating the Action 21 and shall not be used in other actions or proceedings. 22 Persons having knowledge of Protected Material and information due to their 23 participation in the conduct of this Action shall use such knowledge and information 24 only as permitted herein, and shall not disclose such Protected Material, their 25 contents or any portion or summary thereof to any person(s) not involved in the 26 conduct of the Action. 27 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 1 PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 3 The inadvertent production of privileged or work-product protected 4 documents, electronically stored information (ESI) or information is not a waiver of 5 the privilege or protection from discovery in this case or in any other federal or state 6 proceeding. When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 7 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 8 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 9 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure 10 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior 11 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the 12 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or 13 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the 14 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted 15 to the court. 16 This Order shall be interpreted to provide the maximum protection allowed by 17 Federal Rule of Evidence (FRE) 502(d) and shall be enforceable and granted full 18 faith and credit in all other state and federal proceedings by

28 U.S. Code § 1738

. In 19 the event of any subsequent conflict of law, the law that is most protective of 20 privilege and work product shall apply. 21 Nothing contained in this Order is intended to or shall serve to limit a party’s 22 right to conduct a review of documents, ESI or information (including metadata) for 23 relevance, responsiveness and/or segregation of privileged and/or protected 24 information before production. 25 If a Receiving Party has reason to believe that a produced document or other 26 information may reasonably be subject to a claim of privilege, then the Receiving 27 Party shall immediately sequester the document or information, cease using the document or information and cease using any work product containing the 1 information, and shall inform the producing party of the beginning BATES number 2 of the document or, if no BATES number is available, shall otherwise inform the 3 Producing Party of the information. 4 5 A Producing Party must give written notice to any Receiving Party asserting 6 a claim of privilege, work-product protection, or other ground for reclaiming 7 documents or information (a “clawback request”). After a clawback request is 8 received, the Receiving Party shall immediately sequester the document (if not 9 already sequestered) and shall not review or use that document, or any work product 10 containing information taken from that document, for any purpose. The parties shall 11 meet and confer regarding any clawback request. 12 13 12. MISCELLANEOUS 14 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 15 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 16 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 17 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 18 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 19 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 20 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 21 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 22 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 23 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 24 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material 25 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 26 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 27 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60 1 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 2 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 3 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 4 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 5 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 6 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 7 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 8 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 9 destroyed, including any copies of Protected Material provided to persons required 10 to execute the Exhibit A (Affidavit), and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not 11 retained any copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format 12 reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this 13 provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion 14 papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, 15 deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant 16 and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such 17 archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this 18 Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 19

20 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate 21 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary 22 sanctions. 23

24 25 26 27 1 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD. 2

3 Dated: October 18, 2023 WEINBERG GONSER LLP

4

5 By: /s/ Shanen R. Prout 6 Douglas M. Lipstone Shanen R. Prout 7 Attorneys for Defendant 8 NKOK, INC. 9

10 Dated: October 18, 2023 MORRISON & FOERSTER LLP

11

12 By: /s/ Eoin Connolly Michael A. Jacobs 13 Joyce Liou 14 Eoin Connolly Attorneys for Plaintiff 15 CHAP MEI PLASTIC TOYS 16 MANUFACTORY LIMITED 17 18 Pursuant to L.R. 5-4.3.4(a)(2)(i), the e-filer of this document hereby attests that all 19 other signatories listed, on whose behalf this stipulation is submitted, concur in the 20 filing’s content and have authorized the filing. 21

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23 24 25 26 27 1 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 2 3 DATED: October 19, 2023 4 5 Piaticcce Denafiir Patricia Donahue © |! United States Magistrate Judge 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 a0)

EXHIBIT A 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 2

3 I, ________________________, of _______________________________, 4 declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the 5 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for 6 the Central District of California on November ___, 2021 in the case of Candace 7 Gomez, et al. v. Walmart, Inc., et al, case no. 2:21-cv-06425-MWF-PD. I agree to 8 comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order 9 and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to 10 sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will 11 not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated 12 Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the 13 provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for 15 the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 16 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 17 termination of this action. I hereby appoint ________________________ of 18 ________________________________________________________________as 19 my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any 20 proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order. 21 22 Date: __________________________ 23 City and State where sworn and signed: _____________________________ 24

25 Printed name: ____________________________________ 26 27 Signature: ________________________________

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