Fuzhou No Sugar Electronics Co Ltd et al v. Simplehuman LLC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 6 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE FUZHOU NO SUGAR ELECTRONICS CASE NO. 2:25-cv-00778-JNW CO LTD et al, ORDER Plaintiff, v. SIMPLEHUMAN LLC, Defendant.

The parties have filed a joint motion for entry of a protective order. Dkt. No. 24. The motion also reflects a dispute about whether the Court should enter an Electronically Stored Information (ESI) agreement.

The joint motion for a protective order is GRANTED. However, under LCR 7(b)(1), the parties must email an editable version of the proposed order in Microsoft Word format to chambers before the Court will enter it. The parties must email the proposed protective order in Word format to chambers within three (3) days of this Order.

1 As for the ESI agreement, Local Civil Rule 26(f)(4) provides that the Court “may” require the parties to adhere to such an agreement. This language is permissive. The rule requires parties to discuss ESI issues, but it does not require them to reach, or for the Court to impose, a formal agreement in every case. See 5 LCR 26(f)(1)(I); see also Albert v. Lab. Corp. of Am., 536 F. Supp. 3d 798, 800 (W.D. 6 Wash. 2020) (an ESI agreement is a tool to help the parties identify relevant, responsive information).

8 No actual discovery dispute has been presented here. The parties have not yet exchanged substantive productions, and Plaintiffs acknowledge they cannot yet propose specific search terms or custodians. So the Court declines to impose an ESI framework in search of a problem that may never materialize.

12 Accordingly, the Court DENIES the request for entry of an ESI agreement without prejudice. If a genuine ESI dispute arises, the parties may raise the issue through the Court’s expedited joint motion procedure. See LCR 37(a)(2). The parties remain obligated to meet and confer in good faith regarding ESI issues as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(f) and LCR 26(f).

17 Dated this 5th day of January, 2026. a Jamal N. Whitehead United States District Judge