Vetstem, Inc. v. Regen Labs LLC

United States District Court for the Central District of California

Vetstem, Inc. v. Regen Labs LLC

Trial Court Opinion

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7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 WESTERN DIVISION 11 VETSTEM, INC., CASE NO.: 2:24-cv-02475 AB-PDx 12

13 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING STIPULATED 14 v. PROTECTIVE ORDER 15 REGEN LABS LLC dba 16 REGENERATIVE MEDICAL LA, 17 Defendant. 18

19 Having considered the parties’ Stipulated Protective Order in this patent 20 infringement case, and for good cause shown, the Court hereby GRANTS the Stipulated 21 Protective Order and ORDERS the following Protective Order: 22 The parties agree during the course of discovery it may be necessary to disclose 23 certain confidential information, including protected health information (“PHI”) as 24 defined by HIPAA, relating to the subject matter of this action. They agree certain 25 categories of such information should be treated as confidential, protected from 26 disclosure outside this litigation, and used only for purposes of prosecuting or defending 27 this action and any appeals. Thus, the parties jointly request entry of a protective order 28 1 to limit the disclosure, dissemination, and use of certain identified categories of 2 confidential information. 3 The parties assert in support of their request that protection of the identified 4 categories of confidential information is necessary because adjudication of the causes 5 of action presented in this case, including at least infringement of the VetStem Patents 6 by Defendant, will require the production of commercially sensitive information by 7 each of the parties. More specifically, at least the following categories of information 8 and documents may be produced in this case which require protection from public 9 disclosure: 10 1. technical information relating to medical procedure protocols developed, 11 sold, or used by one or both of the parties, which may include information protectable 12 as trade secrets and/or confidential research or patient information; 13 2. technical, marketing, or business development information and documents 14 previously disclosed under non-disclosure agreements; 15 3. confidential financial information of the parties, including sales, revenue, 16 market share, profit and loss data; 17 4. personal communications of the parties; 18 5. confidential licensing and settlement information or other business 19 dealings or agreements prohibited from public disclosure by their express terms; 20 6. documents that may be protectable under one or more privileges (attorney- 21 client, work product, and the like); and 22 7. PHI. 23 Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c), and the applicable local rules, the parties 24 stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The 25 parties, by and through their respective counsel, have mutually agreed to enter into this 26 protective order and mutually agree to remain in full compliance with any privacy 27 requirements imposed by regulations promulgated under the Health Insurance 28 Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (

45 C.F.R. §164

) (“HIPAA”) and the 1 Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (California Civil Code Sections 56-56.37) 2 (“CIMA”). 3 I. INFORMATION SUBJECT TO THIS ORDER 4 1. Discovery materials produced in this case may be labeled as one of two 5 categories: “CONFIDENTIAL” and “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – OUTSIDE 6 ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY” as set forth in Items A and B, below. Both categories of 7 information shall be identified collectively in this Order by the title “Protected 8 Information.” This Order shall encompass not only Protected Information, but also: 9 a. any information copied or extracted from Protected Information; 10 b. all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected 11 Information; 12 c. any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their 13 counsel that might reveal Protected Information; and 14 d. briefs, memoranda or other writings filed with the Court and 15 exhibits thereto that contain or reflect the content of any such Protected Information. 16 A. Information Designated as “CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION” 17 1. For purposes of this Order, “CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION” 18 shall mean all information or material produced for or disclosed in connection with this 19 action to a Receiving Party that a Producing Party, including any Party to this action 20 and any non-party producing information or material voluntarily or pursuant to a 21 subpoena or a court order in connection with this action, considers in good faith to 22 contain confidential, commercially sensitive, and/or proprietary information not 23 otherwise known or available to the public and/or to which the Producing Party 24 reasonably believes it owes an obligation of confidentiality to a Third Party. Any 25 CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION obtained by any Party from any person pursuant to 26 discovery in this litigation may be used only for purposes of this litigation. 27 2. Any document or tangible thing containing or including any 28 CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION may be designated as such by the Producing Party 1 by marking it “CONFIDENTIAL” prior to or at the time copies are furnished to the 2 Receiving Party. 3 3. All CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION not reduced to 4 documentary, tangible or physical form or which cannot be conveniently designated as 5 set forth in paragraph 2 shall be designated by the Producing Party by informing the 6 Receiving Party of the designation in writing. 7 4. Documents designated CONFIDENTIAL and information 8 contained therein shall be available only to: 9 a. Outside litigation counsel of record for the Receiving Party 10 and supporting personnel employed in the law firm(s) of outside litigation counsel of 11 record, such as attorneys, paralegals, legal translators, legal secretaries, legal clerks and 12 shorthand reporters to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for 13 this litigation; 14 b. Technical advisers and their necessary support personnel, 15 subject to the provisions of section I.C herein, and who have signed and provided the 16 form attached hereto as Attachment A; the term “technical adviser” shall mean 17 independent outside expert witnesses or consultants (i.e., not employees of a Party or 18 of a competitor of a Party, and who at the time of retention are not anticipated to become 19 employees of a Party or a competitor of a Party) with whom counsel may deem it 20 necessary to consult and who comply with Section 3; 21 c. One (1) in-house counsel, who is a member of at least one 22 state bar in good standing (or a foreign equivalent thereof) to whom disclosure is 23 reasonably necessary for purposes of this litigation, and who have signed the form 24 attached hereto as Attachment A; 25 d. Two (2) designated representatives of a Party or a Party’s 26 parent company, to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for purposes of this 27 litigation, and who have signed the form attached hereto as Attachment A; 28 1 e. The Court, its personnel and stenographic reporters (under 2 restricted access or with other suitable precautions determined by the Court); 3 f. Independent legal translators retained to translate in 4 connection with this action; independent stenographic reporters and videographers 5 retained to record and transcribe testimony in connection with this action; graphics, 6 translation, or design services retained by counsel for purposes of preparing 7 demonstrative or other exhibits for deposition, trial, or other court proceedings in the 8 actions; non–technical jury or trial consulting services not including mock jurors; 9 persons or entities that provide litigation support services such as photocopying, 10 preparing exhibits or demonstrations, organizing, storing, retrieving data in any form or 11 medium; provided that all such outside vendors agree to maintain the confidentiality of 12 documents pursuant to this Protective Order; 13 g. Any mediator who is assigned to hear this matter, and his or 14 her staff, subject to their agreement to maintain confidentiality to the same degree as 15 required by this Protective Order; 16 h. Any author, signatory, or prior recipient of the document or 17 the original source of the CONFIDENTIAL information. Such person shall be given 18 access only to the specific document or information therein; 19 i. Any other person to whom the parties must first agree. 20 B. Information Designated “HIGLY CONFIDENTIAL -- OUTSIDE ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY” 21 1. The HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL -- OUTSIDE ATTORNEYS EYES 22 ONLY designation is reserved for CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION that constitutes 23 or contains: 24 a. commercially sensitive marketing, financial, sales, web 25 traffic, research and development, or technical data or information; 26 27 28 1 b. commercially sensitive competitive information, including, 2 without limitation, information obtained from a nonparty pursuant to a current 3 Nondisclosure Agreement (“NDA”); 4 c. information or data relating to future products not yet 5 commercially released and/or strategic plans; 6 d. commercial agreements, settlement agreements or settlement 7 communications, the disclosure of which is likely to cause harm to the competitive 8 position of the Producing Party; 9 e. trade secrets, pricing information, sales or marketing 10 forecasts or plans, business plans, sales or marketing strategy, product development 11 information, engineering documents, testing documents, employee information, 12 customer lists, and other non-public information of similar competitive and business 13 sensitivity, 14 f. information that is likely to cause economic harm or 15 significant competitive disadvantage to the Producing Party if disclosed; and 16 g. Protected Health Information (“PHI”) as defined by HIPPA. 17 2. Documents marked “CONFIDENTIAL OUTSIDE ATTORNEYS’ 18 EYES ONLY” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL” shall be treated as if designated 19 HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL -- OUTSIDE ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY. In determining 20 whether information should be designated as CONFIDENTIAL OUTSIDE COUNSEL 21 ONLY, each Party agrees to use such designation only in good faith. 22 3. Documents designated HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL -- OUTSIDE 23 ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY and information contained therein shall be available only 24 to the persons or entities listed in paragraphs I.A.4.a, b, d, e, f and g subject to any terms 25 set forth or incorporated therein. 26 C. DISCLOSURE OF TECHNICAL ADVISERS 27 1. Information designated by the Producing Party under any category 28 1 necessary for maintaining, defending or evaluating this litigation may be furnished and 2 disclosed to the Receiving Party’s technical advisers and their necessary support 3 personnel. 4 2. No disclosure of Protected Information to a technical adviser or their 5 necessary support personnel shall occur until that person has signed the form attached 6 hereto as Attachment A, and a signed copy has been provided to the Producing Party; 7 and to the extent there has been an objection, that objection is resolved according to the 8 procedures set forth below. No disclosure of Protected Information may be provided to 9 an expert or consultant that is a current officer, director, or employee of a Party or of a 10 competitor of a Party, nor anticipated at the time of retention to become an officer, 11 director or employee of a Party or of a competitor of a Party. No disclosure of Protected 12 Information may be provided to an expert or consultant that is involved in competitive 13 decision-making, as defined by U.S. Steel v. United States,

730 F.2d 1465

, 1468 n.3 14 (Fed. Cir. 1984), on behalf of a Party or a competitor of a Party; 15 3. A Party desiring to disclose Protected Information to a technical 16 adviser shall also give prior written notice of the intended disclosure by email to all 17 counsel of record in the litigation, and the Producing Party shall have five (5) business 18 days after such notice is given to object in writing to the disclosure. The Party desiring 19 to disclose Protected Information to a technical adviser must provide the following 20 information for each technical adviser: name, address, curriculum vitae, current 21 employer, title, job responsibilities, employment history for the past three years 22 including the name of each entity for whom the adviser has worked during that time, 23 any past or present affiliation, whether on an employment or consulting basis, with the 24 Receiving Party, a listing of cases in which the witness has testified as an expert at trial 25 or by deposition within the preceding five years, and an identification of any patents or 26 patent applications in which the technical adviser is identified as an inventor or 27 applicant, is involved in prosecuting or maintaining, or has any pecuniary interest. No 28 1 Protected Information shall be disclosed to such expert(s) or consultant(s) until after the 2 expiration of the foregoing notice period and resolution of any objection. 3 4. A Producing Party objecting to disclosure of Protected Information 4 to a technical adviser shall, within five (5) business days of receiving notice of the 5 intended disclosure, state with particularity the ground(s) of the objection. The 6 objecting Party’s consent to the disclosure of Protected Information to a technical 7 adviser shall not be unreasonably withheld, and its objection must be based on that 8 Party’s good faith belief that disclosure of its Protected Information to the technical 9 adviser will result in specific business or economic harm to that Party. If no Party raises 10 such an objection within five (5) business days of receiving notice of the intended 11 disclosure, the technical adviser shall be deemed qualified to receive the Protected 12 Information described in the notice of intended disclosure. 13 5. If after consideration of any objection raised, the Party desiring to 14 disclose the Protected Information to a technical adviser refuses to withdraw the 15 technical adviser, that Party shall provide notice to the objecting Party and the Parties 16 shall in good faith attempt to resolve the objection informally. Thereafter, if the 17 informal efforts do not resolve the dispute, the Party objecting to disclosure of Protected 18 Information may file a motion requesting that the technical advisor not be allowed to 19 view the Protected Information. A failure to file such a motion within the five (5) 20 business day period, absent an agreement of the Parties to the contrary or for an 21 extension of such five (5) business day period, shall operate to allow disclosure of the 22 Protected Information to the technical adviser objected to. The Parties agree to 23 cooperate in good faith to shorten the time frames set forth in this paragraph if necessary 24 to abide by any discovery or briefing schedules. 25 a. The objecting Party shall have the burden of showing by a 26 preponderance of the evidence that the disclosure sought should be prohibited. The 27 Protected Information subject to the objection shall not be disclosed to the technical 28 1 advisor objected to unless and until the Court determines that the disclosure should be 2 allowed. 3 D. CHALLENGES TO CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 4 1. The Parties shall use reasonable care when designating documents 5 or information as Protected Information. Nothing in this Order shall prevent a 6 Receiving Party from contending that any documents or information designated as 7 Protected Information have been improperly designated. A Receiving Party may at any 8 time request that the Producing Party cancel or modify the Protected Information 9 designation with respect to any document or information contained therein. 10 2. A Party shall not be obligated to challenge the propriety of a 11 designation of any category of Protected Information at the time of production, and a 12 failure to do so shall not preclude a subsequent challenge thereto. Such a challenge 13 shall be written, shall be served on counsel for the Producing Party, and shall 14 particularly identify the documents or information that the Receiving Party contends 15 should be differently designated. The Parties shall use their best efforts to resolve 16 promptly and informally such disputes. 17 3. If an agreement cannot be reached within five (5) business days after 18 receipt of the Receiving Party’s written challenge, the Receiving Party shall request that 19 the Court cancel or modify a designation. The burden of demonstrating the confidential 20 nature of any information shall at all times be and remain on the designating Party. 21 4. Until a determination by the Court, the information at issue shall be 22 treated as having been properly designated and subject to the terms of this Order. 23 24 E. LIMITATIONS ON THE USE OF PROTECTED INFORMATION 25 1. All Protected Information shall be held in confidence by each person 26 to whom it is disclosed, shall be used only for purposes of this litigation, shall not be 27 used for any business purpose or in connection with any other proceeding, including 28 1 reexamination or reissue proceedings, opposition proceeding, or any business or 2 competitive purpose or function, and shall not be distributed, disclosed or made 3 available to any person who is not entitled to receive such information as herein 4 provided. All produced Protected Information shall be carefully maintained so as to 5 preclude access by persons who are not entitled to receive such information. 6 2. All transcripts of depositions, exhibits, answers to interrogatories, 7 pleadings, briefs, and other documents submitted to the Court, which have been 8 designated as Protected Information, or which contain information so designated, shall 9 be filed as restricted access in a manner prescribed by the Court for such filings. 10 3. Any deposition transcript, in whole or in part, may be designated 11 CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL -- OUTSIDE ATTORNEYS EYES 12 ONLY by an appropriate statement at the time such testimony is given or thereafter by 13 notifying the other Parties in writing of the portions of such testimony to be so 14 designated within thirty (30) days from receipt of the final certified transcript. Upon 15 such request, the reporter shall mark on the title page of the original and all copies of 16 the transcript as designated. Deposition transcripts, in their entirety, shall be treated by 17 default as HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL -- OUTSIDE ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY until 18 the expiration of the time to make a confidentiality designation. Any Party that wishes 19 to disclose the transcript, or information contained therein, may provide written notice 20 of its intent to treat the transcript as non-confidential, after which time, any Party that 21 wants to maintain any portion of the transcript as confidential must designate the 22 confidential portions within fourteen (14) days, or else the transcript may be treated as 23 non-confidential. 24 4. Any Protected Information that is used in the taking of a deposition 25 shall remain subject to the provisions of this Protective Order, along with the transcript 26 pages of the deposition testimony dealing with such Protected Information. In such 27 cases the court reporter shall be informed of this Protective Order and shall be required 28 to operate in a manner consistent with this Protective Order. In the event the deposition 1 is videotaped, the original and all copies of the videotape shall be marked by the video 2 technician to indicate that the contents of the videotape are subject to this Protective 3 Order, substantially along the lines of “This videotape contains confidential testimony 4 used in this case and is not to be viewed or the contents thereof to be displayed or 5 revealed except pursuant to the terms of the operative Protective Order in this matter or 6 pursuant to written stipulation of the Parties.” 7 5. Counsel for any Producing Party shall have the right to exclude from 8 oral depositions, other than the deponent, deponent’s counsel, the reporter and 9 videographer (if any), any person who is not authorized by this Protective Order to 10 receive or access Protected Information based on the designation of such Protected 11 Information. Such right of exclusion shall be applicable only during periods of 12 examination or testimony regarding such Protected Information. 13 6. Nothing in this Order shall restrict in any way the use or disclosure 14 of Protected Information by a Receiving Party: 15 a. previously produced, disclosed and/or provided by the 16 Producing Party to the Receiving Party or a non-party without an obligation of 17 confidentiality and not by inadvertence or mistake; 18 b. with the consent of the Producing Party; or 19 c. pursuant to order of the Court. 20 7. The Parties agree to meet and confer prior to the pretrial conference 21 to negotiate a proposal for treatment of Protected Information at trial to be submitted 22 for approval by the Court. A Party shall provide a minimum of two business days’ 23 notice to the Producing Party in the event that a Party intends to use any Protected 24 Information during trial. In addition, the Parties will not oppose any request by the 25 Producing Party that courtroom access should be restricted, if allowed by the Court, 26 during the presentation of any testimony relating to or involving the use of any Protected 27 Information. 28 1 F. NON-PARTY USE OF THIS PROTECTIVE ORDER 2 1. A nonparty producing information or material voluntarily or 3 pursuant to a subpoena or a court order may designate such material or information as 4 Protected Information pursuant to the terms of this Protective Order. 5 2. A nonparty’s use of this Protective Order to protect its Protected 6 Information does not entitle that nonparty access to the Protected Information produced 7 by any Party in this case. 8 G. NO WAIVER OF PRIVILEGE 9 1. Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(5)(B) and the Fed. R. Evid. 502, 10 nothing in this Protective Order shall require disclosure of information that a Party 11 contends is protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege, the work product 12 immunity or other privilege, doctrine, right, or immunity. If information subject to a 13 claim of attorney-client privilege, work product immunity, or other privilege, doctrine, 14 right, or immunity is nevertheless inadvertently or unintentionally produced or made 15 available for inspection, such disclosure shall in no way prejudice or otherwise 16 constitute a waiver or estoppel as to any such privilege, doctrine, right or immunity, or 17 other ground for withholding production to which the Producing Party would otherwise 18 be entitled to assert. 19 2. Any Party that inadvertently or unintentionally produces or makes 20 available for inspection materials protected by the attorney-client privilege, work 21 product privilege, or other privilege, doctrine, right, or immunity may obtain the return 22 of those materials by promptly designating any such information as within the attorney- 23 client privilege or work product immunity or any other applicable privilege or immunity 24 and notifying the recipient(s). Such request must be made in writing and set out the 25 bases for the privilege or immunity claimed. The Receiving Party shall not use or 26 disclose any inadvertently or unintentionally produced information for any purpose 27 unless and until the asserted privileges or immunities have been successfully challenged 28 1 3. In the case of documents, if the party that received the document 2 agrees that it is privileged or work product (without regard to its production), then the 3 document and all copies shall promptly be returned to the Producing Party or destroyed, 4 and no reference to such document shall be made in connection with the proof of the 5 facts in this dispute. If the party that received the document does not agree that the 6 document was protected by privilege or work product, then it shall so notify the 7 Producing Party within ten (10) calendar days of receiving written notice of the asserted 8 privilege or work product protection. In such event, the Producing Party may move the 9 Court to resolve the question, except that no such challenge may assert the inadvertent 10 or unintentional disclosure as a ground for requiring production. Unless the parties 11 otherwise agree in writing, any such motion must be made within twenty-one (21) 12 calendar days of receiving notification that the recipient of the document disputes the 13 claim of privilege or work product. If the Court rules that the document is protected 14 (without regard to the fact of production), then the party that received the document 15 shall promptly return the document and all known copies to the Producing Party (except 16 that counsel of record may retain copies as needed for the sole purpose of seeking 17 reconsideration or appellate review of the Court’s ruling on the question of privilege) 18 and shall make no reference to the document in connection with the proof of the facts 19 or pursuit of judgment or settlement in this case. 20 H. NO WAIVER OF PROTECTION 21 1. Inadvertent or unintentional production of documents or things 22 containing Protected Information which are not designated as one or more of the 23 categories of Protected Information at the time of production shall not be deemed a 24 waiver in whole or in part of a claim for confidential treatment. With respect to 25 documents, the Producing Party shall notify all Receiving Parties that such documents 26 are protected under one of the categories of this Order within fourteen (14) days of the 27 Producing Party learning of the inadvertent or unintentional failure to designate. The 28 Producing Party shall reproduce the Protected Information with the correct 1 confidentiality designation within seven (7) days upon its notification to the Receiving 2 Parties. Within seven (7) days of receiving the Protected Information with the correct 3 confidentiality designation, the Receiving Parties shall return or securely destroy and 4 certify such destruction,, all Protected Material that was not designated properly. 5 2. In the event of any disclosure of Protected Information other than in 6 a manner authorized by this Protective Order, including any unintentional or inadvertent 7 disclosure, the Party responsible for having made such disclosure, and each Party with 8 knowledge thereof, shall immediately notify counsel for the Producing Party and 9 provide to such counsel all known relevant information concerning the nature and 10 circumstances of the disclosure. The responsible disclosing Party shall also make every 11 effort to further prevent unauthorized disclosure, including retrieving all copies of the 12 Protected Information from the recipient(s) thereof, and securing the agreement of the 13 recipients not to further disseminate the Protected Information in any 14 form. Compliance with the foregoing shall not prevent the Producing Party from 15 seeking further relief from the Court. Unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure does not 16 change the status of Protected Information or waive the right to hold the disclosed 17 document or information as Protected. 18 3. A Receiving Party shall not be in breach of this Order for any use of 19 such Protected Information before the Receiving Party receives the Protected 20 Information with the correct confidentiality designation, unless an objectively 21 reasonable person would have realized that the Protected Information should have been 22 appropriately designated with a confidentiality designation under this Order. Once a 23 Receiving Party has received notification of the correct confidentiality designation for 24 the Protected Information with the correct confidentiality designation, the Receiving 25 Party shall treat such Protected Information at the appropriately designated level 26 pursuant to the terms of this Order. Notwithstanding the above, a subsequent 27 designation of Protected Information shall apply on a going forward basis only and shall 28 1 not disqualify anyone who reviewed Protected Information while the materials were not 2 appropriately marked from engaging in any activities otherwise permitted by this Order. 3 I. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 4 1. If at any time Protected Information in any form is subpoenaed by 5 any court, arbitral, administrative or legislative body, or are otherwise requested in 6 discovery, the person or entity to whom the subpoena or other request is directed shall 7 immediately: 8 a. notify in writing the person or entity who caused the subpoena 9 or other request to issue that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or 10 request is subject to a Protective Order and include a copy of this Order with such notice; 11 b. give written notice thereof to every Party or nonparty, and 12 their counsel, who has produced such documents and include a copy of the subpoena or 13 request with such notice; and, 14 c. provide each such Producing Party or nonparty with an 15 opportunity to object to the production of such documents. 16 2. Testifying experts shall not be subject to discovery of any draft of 17 their reports in this case and such draft reports, notes, outlines, or any other writings 18 leading up to an issued report(s) in this litigation are exempt from discovery. In 19 addition, all communications between counsel for a Party and that Party’s testifying 20 expert(s) related to the content of expert reports are exempt from discovery, provided 21 that this limitation on discovery does not permit a Party to withhold any material relied 22 upon by testifying experts solely on the ground that such material was provided to the 23 expert by counsel. All materials generated by a testifying expert with respect to that 24 person’s work are also exempt from discovery unless they identify facts, data or 25 assumptions relied upon by the expert in forming any opinions in this litigation and such 26 information is not already disclosed in the expert’s report. 27 3. No Party shall be required to identify on their respective privilege 28 log any document or communication related to this litigation dated on or after the filing 1 of this lawsuit, which absent this provision, the Party would have been obligated to so 2 identify on said privilege log. The Parties shall exchange their respective privilege 3 document logs at a time to be agreed upon by the Parties following the production of 4 documents. 5 4. The United States District Court for the Central District of 6 California is responsible for the interpretation and enforcement of this Protective 7 Order. After termination of this litigation, the provisions of this Protective Order shall 8 continue to be binding except with respect to those documents and information that 9 become a matter of public record. This Court retains and shall have continuing 10 jurisdiction over the Parties and recipients of the Protected Information for enforcement 11 of the provision of this Protective Order following termination of this litigation. All 12 disputes concerning Protected Information produced under the protection of this 13 Protective Order shall be resolved by the United States District Court for the Central 14 District of California. In the event anyone shall violate or threaten to violate the terms 15 of this Protective Order, the aggrieved designating Party may immediately apply to 16 obtain injunctive relief against any such person violating or threatening to violate any 17 of the terms of this Protective Order. 18 5. Each Party agrees to be bound by the terms of this Protective Order 19 as of the date counsel for such Party executes this Protective Order, at which time the 20 provisions of this Order shall retroactively apply to any Protected Information obtained 21 by that Party or its counsel prior to execution, even if prior to entry of this order by the 22 Court. 23 6. This Protective Order shall be binding upon the Parties and their 24 attorneys, successors, executors, personal representative, administrators, heirs, legal 25 representatives, assigns, subsidiaries, divisions, employees, agents, independent 26 contractors, or other persons or organizations over which they have control. 27 28 1 7. All notices required by this Protective Order are to be served on the 2 attorney(s) for each of the Defendants and Plaintiff listed in the signature block below 3 for each Party. 4 8. Unless other arrangements are agreed upon in writing by the parties, 5 within thirty days following the first to occur of: (i) the complete resolution of this case 6 through entry of a final non-appealable judgment or order for which appeal has been 7 exhausted, or (ii) the complete settlement final determination or a decision by the court 8 of appeals, each person or party who has received CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY 9 CONFIDENTIAL – OUTSIDE ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY information shall be 10 obligated to return the CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – OUTSIDE 11 ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY information, including any copies, to the designating party, 12 or the Receiving Party may elect to destroy the CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY 13 CONFIDENTIAL – OUTSIDE ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY information, including any 14 copies, and certify that it has been destroyed. The Receiving Party, however, need not 15 destroy or return (a) any CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – OUTSIDE 16 ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY information that it is required by law to maintain or (b) 17 one archival copy of all deposition transcripts and all materials filed with the Court, 18 regardless of whether such materials (including exhibits and appendices) contain or 19 refer to CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – OUTSIDE ATTORNEYS 20 EYES ONLY information. 21 9. Any request to restrict access to materials designated as 22 CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – OUTSIDE ATTORNEYS EYES 23 ONLY pursuant to this Protective Order must comply with the requirements of Local 24 Rule 79-5 and Paragraph 10 of Dkt. No. 22 of this Litigation. The party seeking to 25 restrict a document filed with the Court shall bear the burden of establishing that the 26 document should be restricted pursuant to the standards and practices outlined in those 27 requirements. 28 1 This Protective Order may be modified by the Court at any time for good cause shown 2 following notice to all parties and an opportunity for them to be heard 3

4 IT IS SO ORDERED. 5

6 Dated: August 9, 2024 __________________________________ 7 United States Magistrate Judge

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Reference

Status
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