Kolon Industries, Inc. v. Hyosung Advanced Materials Corp.
Kolon Industries, Inc. v. Hyosung Advanced Materials Corp.
Trial Court Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 SOUTHERN DIVISION 11 Kolon Industries, Inc., Case No. 8:24-cv-00415-JVS-JDE
12 Plaintiff, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
13 v.
14 Hyosung Advanced Materials Corp. and Hyosung USA, Inc., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Based on the parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 78) and the Court’s review of the 18 docket and for good cause shown, the Court finds and orders as follows. 19 1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 20 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 21 proprietary or private information for which special protection from disclosure and 22 from use for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be warranted. This 23 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures during discovery. 24 Designations under this Order shall be made with care and with a good-faith belief 25 that the designated material satisfies the criteria set forth below. 26 2. DEFINITIONS 27 2.1 Action: This pending federal lawsuit - Kolon Indus., Inc. v. Hyosung 28 Advanced Materials Corp. et al., Case No. 8-24-cv-00415-JVS-JDE (C.D. Cal.). 1 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 2 designation of information or items under this Order. 3 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 4 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 5 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). 6 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 7 their support staff). 8 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 9 items that it produces in disclosures or responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL” 10 or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 11 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 12 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 13 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced 14 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery. 15 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter 16 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve 17 as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 18 2.8 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” 19 Information or Items: extremely sensitive “Confidential Information or Items,” 20 disclosure of which to another Party or Non-Party, even under the restricted terms 21 and conditions applicable to material designated “CONFIDENTIAL,” would not 22 adequately protect the interests of the Designating Party. Examples of HIGHLY 23 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY material include, but are not 24 limited to, the following: 25 A. Confidential licenses, licensing terms, and communications regarding 26 licensing; 27 B. Confidential sales, pricing, profit, and other financial information; 28 1 C. Confidential business, marketing, and strategic plans and forecasts; 2 D. Confidential technical information, including design, development, 3 engineering, manufacturing, and testing documents; 4 E. Employee personal information, to the extent such information is 5 produced and not redacted; 6 F. Trade Secrets; 7 G. Confidential customer information; and 8 H. Any other type or category of information which a Producing Party 9 believes must be held in highest level of confidence because it could otherwise 10 create a competitive disadvantage. 11 2.9 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 12 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 13 counsel. 14 2.10 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, 15 association, or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 16 2.11 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of 17 a party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have 18 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that 19 has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 20 2.12 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, 21 directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record 22 (and their support staffs). 23 2.13 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure 24 or Discovery Material in this Action. 25 2.14 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 26 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 27 28 1 2
3 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 4 and their employees and subcontractors. 5 2.15 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material 6 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 7 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 8 2.16 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 9 Material from a Producing Party. 10 3. SCOPE 11 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 12 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 13 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 14 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 15 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 16 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the 17 trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of 18 Protected Material at trial. 19 4. DURATION 20 Even after the Final Disposition of this case, the confidentiality obligations 21 imposed by this Order shall remain in effect until a Producing Party agrees 22 otherwise in writing or a court order otherwise directs. 23 Once a case proceeds to trial, Protected Material under this order that is 24 introduced as an exhibit at trial will be presumptively available to all members of 25 the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific 26 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the 27 trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu,
447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81(9th 28 1 Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced 2 in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents 3 are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this order do not extend beyond 4 the commencement of the trial for material introduced at trial. 5 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 6 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection 7 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material 8 that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must 9 designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or 10 written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, 11 documents, items or communications for which protection is not warranted are not 12 swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 13 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 14 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 15 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to 16 impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the 17 Designating Party to sanctions. 18 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 19 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 20 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 21 5.1 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 22 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material 23 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before 24 the material is disclosed or produced. 25 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 26 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 27 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 28 1 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 2 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 3 ONLY” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains 4 protected material. 5 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 6 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 7 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 8 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be 9 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 10 EYES ONLY.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants 11 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or 12 portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing 13 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL 14 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. 15 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 16 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of 17 the deposition all protected testimony. When it is impractical to identify separately 18 each portion of testimony entitled to protection and it appears that substantial 19 portions of the testimony may qualify for protection, the Designating Party may 20 invoke on the record (before the deposition is concluded) a right to have up to 30 21 days from the time the final transcript is received by the Designating Party to 22 identify the specific portions of the testimony as to which protection is sought and 23 to specify the level of protection being asserted. Only those portions of the 24 testimony that are appropriately designated for protection within the 30 days shall 25 be covered by the provisions of this Protective. Alternatively, a Designating Party 26 may specify, at the deposition or up to 30 days afterwards if that period is properly 27 invoked, that the entire transcript shall be treated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or 28 1 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” In the event that 2 the deposition is videotaped, the original and all copies of the videotape shall be 3 marked by the video technician pursuant to the terms of this Order to indicate that 4 the contents of the videotape are subject to this Order. 5 Parties shall give the other parties notice if they reasonably expect a 6 deposition to include Protected Material so that the other parties can ensure that 7 only authorized individuals including those who have signed the “Acknowledgment 8 and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A) are present at those depositions. Counsel 9 for the Producing Party has the right to exclude from oral depositions—other than 10 the deponent, the deponent’s counsel, the reporter, and the videographer (if any)— 11 any person who is not authorized by this Protective Order to receive or access 12 Protected Material based on the designation of such Protected Material. Such right 13 of exclusion shall be applicable only during periods of examination or testimony 14 about such Protected Material. The use of a document as an exhibit at a deposition 15 shall not in any way affect its designation as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 16 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” 17 Transcripts containing Protected Material shall have an obvious legend on 18 the title page that the transcript contains Protected Material, and the title page shall 19 be followed by a list of all pages (including line numbers as appropriate) that have 20 been designated as Protected Material and the level of protection being asserted by 21 the Designating Party. The Designating Party shall inform the court reporter of 22 these requirements. Any transcript prepared before the expiration of the 30-day 23 period for designation shall be treated during that period as if it had been 24 designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” in its 25 entirety unless otherwise agreed. After the expiration of that period, the transcript 26 shall be treated only as actually designated. 27 28 1 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary 2 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent 3 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is 4 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – 5 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” If the information or tangible item cannot be 6 conveniently labeled, it shall be designated by written notice to all Receiving 7 Parties. If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the 8 Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 9 5.2 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 10 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 11 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such 12 material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make 13 reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the 14 provisions of this Order. 15 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 16 6.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 17 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 18 Scheduling Order. 19 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 20 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq. 21 6.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a 22 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 23 6.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be 24 on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 25 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 26 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 27 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall 28 1 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 2 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 3 challenge. 4 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 5 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 6 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 7 Action for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action only. Such 8 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under 9 the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 10 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 14 below (FINAL 11 DISPOSITION). 12 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 13 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 14 authorized under this Order. 15 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 16 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 17 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 18 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 19 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, 20 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 21 necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 22 (b) the House Counsel and foreign counsel of the Receiving Party 23 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action who have signed the 24 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 25 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to 26 whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 27 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 28 1 (d) the court and its personnel; 2 (e) court reporters and their staff; 3 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 4 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action; 5 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the 6 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the 7 information; 8 (h) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting 9 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement 10 discussions. 11 (i) Any other person with the prior written consent of the 12 Producing Party. 13 7.3 Disclosure of “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 14 ONLY” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted 15 in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any 16 information or item designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 17 EYES ONLY” only to the persons identified in 7.2(a) and 7.2(d) through (i). 18 8. NOTICE OF DISCLOSURE 19 (a) Prior to disclosing any Protected Material to any person described in 20 Paragraph 7.2(c) (referenced below as “Person”), the Party seeking to disclose such 21 information shall provide the Producing Party with written notice that includes: 22 (i) the name of the Person; 23 (ii) an up-to-date curriculum vitae of the Person; 24 (iii) the present employer and title of the Person; 25 (iv) an identification of all of the Person's past and current 26 employment and consulting relationships going back five (5) years; 27 28 1 (v) a list of the cases in which the Person has testified at deposition 2 or trial within the last five (5) years. 3 (b) Within fourteen (14) days of receipt of the disclosure of the Person, 4 the Producing Party or Parties may object in writing to the Person for good cause. 5 In the absence of an objection at the end of the fourteen (14) day period, the Person 6 shall be deemed approved under this Protective Order. There shall be no disclosure 7 of Protected Material to the Person prior to expiration of this fourteen (14) day 8 period. If the Producing Party objects to disclosure to the Person within such 9 fourteen (14) day period, the Parties shall meet and confer via telephone or in 10 person within seven (7) days following the objection and attempt in good faith to 11 resolve the dispute on an informal basis. If the dispute is not resolved, the Party 12 objecting to the disclosure will have fourteen (14) days from the date of the meet 13 and confer to seek relief from the Court in accordance with Local Civil Rule 37-1, 14 et seq. If relief is not sought from the Court within that time, the objection shall be 15 deemed withdrawn. If relief is sought, designated materials shall not be disclosed 16 to the Person in question until the Court resolves the objection. 17 (c) For purposes of this section, “good cause” shall include an objectively 18 reasonable concern that the Person will, advertently or inadvertently, use or 19 disclose Discovery Materials in a way or ways that are inconsistent with the 20 provisions contained in this Order. 21 (d) Prior to receiving any Protected Material under this Order, the Person 22 must execute a copy of the “Acknowledgement and Agreement to Be Bound” 23 (Exhibit A hereto) and serve it on all Parties. 24 (e) An initial failure to object to a Person under this Section shall not 25 preclude the nonobjecting Party from later objecting to continued access by that 26 Person for good cause. If an objection is made, the Parties shall meet and confer 27 via telephone or in person within seven (7) days following the objection and 28 1 attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute informally. If the dispute is not 2 resolved, the Party objecting to the disclosure will have fourteen (14) days from 3 the date of the meet and confer to seek relief from the Court in accordance with 4 Local Rule 37-1, et seq. The designated Person may continue to have access to 5 information that was provided to such Person prior to the date of the objection. If a 6 later objection is made, no further Protected Material shall be disclosed to the 7 Person until the Court resolves the matter or the Producing Party withdraws its 8 objection. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Producing Party fails to move for a 9 protective order within fourteen (14) business days after the meet and confer, 10 further Protected Material may thereafter be provided to the Person. 11 9. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 12 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 13 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 14 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 15 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 16 ONLY,” that Party must: 17 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 18 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 19 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena 20 or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by 21 the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall 22 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 23 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 24 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the 25 Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 26 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated as 27 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 28 1 ONLY” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order 2 issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 3 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that 4 court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be 5 construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to 6 disobey a lawful directive from another court. 7 10. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO 8 BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 9 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced 10 by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 11 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” Such information produced 12 by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and 13 relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as 14 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 15 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery 16 request, to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and 17 the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non- 18 Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall: 19 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the 20 Non-Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a 21 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 22 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the 23 Stipulated Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 24 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 25 (3) make the information requested available for inspection 26 by the Non-Party, if requested. 27 28 1 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 2 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the 3 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive 4 to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the 5 Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control that 6 is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a 7 determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party 8 shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its 9 Protected Material. 10 11. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED 11 MATERIAL 12 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 13 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized 14 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) 15 notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its 16 best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform 17 the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms 18 of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the 19 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 20 12. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 21 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 22 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 23 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 24 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal 25 Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). 26 Pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 502(d), a Party’s inadvertent or otherwise 27 disclosure or production of any documents or information in this proceeding shall 28 1 not, for the purposes of this proceeding, constitute a waiver by that Party of the 2 attorney-client privilege or work product protection as applicable to those 3 documents. 4 Any party receiving any such inadvertently or otherwise produced 5 documents or information shall return them to the producing party, upon request, 6 shall promptly delete any versions of the documents it maintains, and make no use 7 of the information contained therein, except as otherwise provided in this Order, 8 regardless of whether the receiving party agrees with the claim of privilege and/or 9 work product protection. 10 Nothing in this Order shall prevent a receiving party from challenging the 11 privilege or protection asserted by the producing party by following the procedure 12 outlined in this Order. Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26, the producing party bears the 13 burden of establishing the privilege or protection of all such challenged documents. 14 The receiving party may not use information contained in the challenged 15 documents when contesting the privilege claim. 16 Disclosure of information or documents by the receiving party before the 17 producing party designates the information as protected shall not be deemed a 18 violation of this Order. 19 13. MISCELLANEOUS 20 13.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 21 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 22 13.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 23 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 24 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in 25 this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on 26 any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective 27 Order. 28 1 13.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 2 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5, et seq. Protected 3 Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the 4 sealing of the specific Protected Material. Designation of material as protected 5 under this Order does not, of itself, show good cause or compelling reasons 6 warranting sealing 7 14. PROSECUTION BAR 8 Any Outside Counsel of Record or any Expert who receives Protected 9 Material designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES 10 ONLY” shall not prepare, prosecute, supervise, or assist in the preparation or 11 prosecution of any patent application pertaining to the fields of invention of the 12 patents in suit on behalf of the Receiving Party or its acquirer, successor, 13 predecessor, or other affiliate during the pendency of this Action and for one year 14 after its conclusion, including any appeals. 15 For purposes of this Section, “prosecution” includes any activity related to 16 (i) the preparation or prosecution (for any person or entity) of patent applications, 17 including among others reissue applications or (ii) directly or indirectly 18 participating, drafting, amending, advising, or otherwise affecting the scope or 19 maintenance of patent claims. To ensure compliance with the purpose of this 20 provision, each Party shall create an “Ethical Wall” between those persons with 21 access to materials designated HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ 22 EYES ONLY and any individuals who, on behalf of the Party or its acquirer, 23 successor, predecessor, or other affiliate, prepare, prosecute, supervise or assist in 24 the preparation or prosecution of any patent application pertaining to the 25 technologies at issue. 26 To avoid any doubt, “prosecution,” as used in this Section, does not include 27 representing a Party or Non-Party in inter partes reviews or other post-grant 28 1 proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office or any foreign 2 patent agency. This Prosecution Bar shall begin when access to “HIGHLY 3 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” information is first received 4 by the affected individual. 5 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 6 After the final disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request 7 by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material 8 to the Producing Party or destroy such material. For purposes of this Order, “Final 9 Disposition” occurs after an order, mandate, or dismissal finally terminating the 10 above-captioned action with prejudice, including all appeals. As used in this 11 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 12 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 13 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 14 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the 15 same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) 16 identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was 17 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any 18 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, or any other format reproducing or 19 capturing any of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel 20 can retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and 21 hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition, and trial 22 exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work 23 product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival 24 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this 25 Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION). 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 16. VIOLATION Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
7 | DATED: September 26, 2024 gil bo 10 J D. EARLY 11 ited States Magistrate Judge 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Ig STIPULATED PROTECTIVE □□□□
1 EXHIBIT A 2 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of 5 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury 6 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Protective Order that was issued 7 by the United States District Court for the Central District of California on 8 September 26, 2024, in Kolon Indus., Inc. v. Hyosung Advanced Materials Corp. et 9 al., Case No. 8-24-cv-00415 (C.D. Cal.). I agree to comply with and to be bound 10 by all the terms of this Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that 11 failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of 12 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any 13 information or item that is subject to this Protective Order to any person or entity 14 except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District 16 Court for the Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this 17 Protective Order, even if those enforcement proceedings occur after termination of 18 this action. 19 20 21 Date: _________________________________ 22 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________ 23 24 Printed name: ______________________________ 25 [printed name] 26 Signature: __________________________________ 27 [signature] 28
Reference
- Status
- Unknown