Ilya Podobedov et al v. Living Essentials, LLC, et al

Filing 71

PROTECTIVE ORDER by Magistrate Judge Paul L. Abrams REGARDING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 70 . **See Order for details.** (ch)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 ILYA PODOBEDOV, JORDAN 12 MOUSSOUROS and RICHARD N. CASE NO. LACV11-6408 PSG (PLAx) JAMES, on behalf of themselves and all 13 others similarly situated, 14 15 PROTECTIVE ORDER REGARDING CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION Plaintiffs, vs. 16 LIVING ESSENTIALS, LLC, INNOVATION VENTURES, LLC d/b/a 17 LIVING ESSENTIALS, MANOJ BHARGAVA and BIOCLINICAL 18 DEVELOPMENT, INC., 19 Defendants. 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION ORDER 1 THE COURT, having considered the Stipulation of the parties in this 2 3 action to enter an order, HEREBY ORDERS THAT: 4 5 1. Scope of Order. This Order Re: Confidential Information 6 (“Protective Order”) governs the handling of all material produced, given, or filed 7 during discovery or other proceedings in this action, but shall not apply to the trial 8 of this action (at which time the Court will make other orders, as appropriate, 9 concerning this subject). The provisions of this Protective Order shall apply to the 10 Parties, and any other Person producing, receiving, or disclosing Material in this 11 action. 12 2. Definitions. 13 (a) As a general guideline, Materials designated as “Confidential” 14 shall be those things that may be disclosed to the Parties for 15 purposes of this litigation, but which must be protected from 16 disclosure to third parties. Absent a specific order from this Court, 17 Materials designated as “Confidential” shall be used by the Parties 18 solely in connection with this litigation, and not for any business, 19 competitive, or governmental purpose or function, and such 20 Materials shall not be disclosed to anyone except as provided 21 herein. 22 (b) As a further general guideline, Materials designated as “Highly 23 Confidential” shall be those things of a proprietary business or 24 technical nature that might be of value to a competitor or potential 25 customer, and that must be protected from disclosure. Absent a 26 specific order from this Court, Materials designated as “Highly 27 Confidential” shall be used by the Parties solely in connection with 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 1 this litigation, and not for any business, competitive, or 2 governmental purpose or function, and such Materials shall not be 3 disclosed to anyone except as provided herein. 4 (c) As a further general guideline, Materials designated at “Highly 5 Confidential Formula – For Attorneys’ Eyes Only” shall be those 6 things that relate to a Party’s proprietary product formula that must 7 be protected from disclosure. Absent a specific order from this 8 Court, Materials designated as “Highly Confidential Formula – For 9 Attorneys’ Eyes Only” shall be used by the Parties solely in 10 connection with this litigation, and not for any business, 11 competitive, or governmental purpose or function, and such 12 Materials shall not be disclosed to anyone except as provided 13 herein. 14 (d) “Protected Material” means any type or classification of Material 15 that is designated as “Confidential,” “Highly Confidential,” or 16 “Highly Confidential Formula – For Attorneys’ Eyes Only” by the 17 Producing Person and that contains trade secrets, future business 18 plans, information regarding products not released or announced to 19 the public, nonpublic proprietary product development 20 information, nonpublic proprietary product formula information, 21 customer lists, nonpublic financial information, nonpublic business 22 operations information of a confidential nature, personnel 23 information in an employee’s confidential employment file, and/or 24 information protected by the right to privacy. For purposes of 25 clarification, a Producing Person may designate Material as 26 “Highly Confidential” or “Highly Confidential Formula – 27 Attorneys’ Eyes Only” only if the Producing Person believes in 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 1 good faith the Material contains extremely sensitive confidential 2 information, including but not limited to information which is 3 commercial, pricing, cost, or marketing information relating to the 4 Producing Person or the Producing Person’s commercial products 5 or planned commercial products, or technical and research 6 information or product formula information that is extremely 7 sensitive. Publicly available information is not Protected Material. 8 The Parties cannot reasonably anticipate all information that will 9 be requested and produced in this action, and they therefore reserve 10 the right to designate as Protected Material any document or 11 category of information that they in good faith believe is entitled to 12 the designation even if it is not expressly mentioned in the 13 definition above. 14 (e) “Confidential Information” means any information contained in 15 Protected Material, as defined above, and only the limited portions 16 of briefs, memoranda, exhibits, or testimony, or the limited 17 portions of any other writing filed with the Court that mentions, 18 discusses, or refers to any Protected Material. 19 (f) “Material” means papers, documents, tapes, testimony, and other 20 information produced, given, or filed during discovery or other 21 proceedings in this action, including, but not limited to, answers to 22 interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions, deposition 23 testimony, information provided during any settlement discussions, 24 and all copies, excerpts, summaries, and information derived from 25 any such papers or documents. 26 (g) “Person” means a natural person, firm, association, organization, 27 partnership, business, public entity, or other person acting on 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION behalf of such person. 1 (h) “Party” or “Parties” means Living Essentials, LLC, Innovation 2 3 Ventures, LLC, Manoj, Bhargava, Bio Clinical Development, Inc., 4 Ilya Podobedov, Jordan Moussouros, and Richard N. James, or any 5 other Person who is joined in this action as a party. (i) “Producing Person” means any Person, as defined above, 6 producing or disclosing Material in this action. 7 (j) “Discovering Party” means any Party that requests and receives 8 Materials in this action through the discovery process. 9 10 3. Designation of Protected Material. A Producing Party may 11 designate discovery Material as “Confidential,” “Highly Confidential,” or “Highly 12 Confidential Formula – Attorneys’ Eyes Only” in the following manner: 13 (a) Designation of Documents: Any document (defined herein as 14 including, but not limited to: exhibits, documents and things 15 (including computer diskettes and other storage media) produced in 16 response to discovery requests, interrogatory responses, responses 17 to requests for admission, motions, briefs, memoranda, and copies 18 of any of the foregoing) produced or given by any Producing 19 Person during discovery, hearings, or trial in this case which sets 20 forth or contains any Confidential Information may be so 21 designated by affixing the legend “Confidential,” “Highly 22 Confidential,” or “Highly Confidential Formula – Attorneys’ Eyes 23 Only” as applicable, on each page containing Confidential 24 Information at the time such document is produced or provided, or 25 as soon thereafter as the Producing Person seeking protection 26 becomes aware of the confidential nature of the document. 27 (b) Designation of Deposition Testimony: Deposition testimony may 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 1 be designated “Confidential,” “Highly Confidential,” or “Highly 2 Confidential Formula – Attorneys’ Eyes Only” by oral designation 3 on the record, or within ten (10) days after the transcript of such 4 deposition is mailed to the designating Person. The designating 5 Person shall instruct the court reporter to separately bind the 6 portions of the deposition transcript so designated, and to stamp the 7 word “Confidential,” “Highly Confidential,” or “Highly 8 Confidential Formula – Attorneys’ Eye Only” as applicable, on 9 each designated page of the transcript. Pending expiration of this 10 ten-day period, all Parties shall treat all deposition testimony and 11 exhibits as if they had been designated as “Highly Confidential.” 12 (c) Treatment of Court-Filed Materials. A Party that intends to file 13 with the Court any information that another Party or non-party has 14 designated as “Confidential,” “Highly Confidential,” or “Highly 15 Confidential Formula – Attorneys’ Eyes Only” shall comply with 16 the sealing and lodging requirements of the Court’s Local Rules. 17 Where only a portion of the submission or filing contains 18 Confidential Information, only that portion shall be filed under 19 seal. The parties shall keep in confidence all copies of such 20 Materials as provided in this Order. 21 4. Treatment of Protected Material. Material designated “Highly 22 Confidential Formula – Attorneys’ Eyes Only” may not be disclosed expect as set 23 forth in paragraph 5 below. Material designated “Highly Confidential” may not be 24 disclosed except as set forth in paragraph 6 below. Material designated 25 “Confidential” may not be disclosed except as set forth in paragraph 7 below. 26 Protected Material shall be kept in secure facilities, and access to those facilities 27 shall be permitted only to those Persons having proper access thereto under this 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 1 Protective Order. Protected Material shall be used solely for the purposes of this 2 litigation and shall not be used for any business or other purpose. The restrictions 3 on use of Protected Material set forth in this Order shall survive the conclusion of 4 the litigation, and, after conclusion of this litigation, the Court shall retain 5 jurisdiction for the purpose of enforcing this Protective Order. 6 5. Access to Material Designated “Highly Confidential Formula – 7 Attorneys’ Eyes Only.” Material designated “Highly Confidential Formula – 8 Attorneys’ Eyes Only” may be disclosed only to the following: 9 (a) Counsel of record for any Party, including any attorneys at their 10 law firms to whom it is necessary that the information be disclosed 11 for the purposes of this litigation; 12 (b) Court personnel, including stenographic reporters engaged in such 13 proceedings as are necessarily incident to preparation for trial and 14 trial of this action; 15 (c) Not more than four (4) independent consultants or experts, retained 16 in connection with this action, provided that each such person first 17 acknowledges in writing, under oath, that he or she has read this 18 Protective Order and agrees to be bound by its terms, and provided 19 further that such person first acknowledges the she/he does not 20 have a business or competitive conflict with any Party. This 21 acknowledgment shall be made by execution of the Declaration 22 attached hereto as Exhibit A. The attorneys of record for the 23 Discovering Party will inform the Producing Person prior to 24 disclosure to the independent consultant or expert that the material 25 will be provided to an independent consultant or expert, and that 26 the independent consultant or expert has agreed not to disclose the 27 material to anyone other than counsel of record for any Party. The 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 1 identities of the experts or consultants need not be provided to the 2 opposing party in advance of disclosure. All such written 3 acknowledgments shall be maintained by counsel making the 4 disclosure of the Protected Material, and shall be provided to the 5 opposing Party’s counsel at the conclusion of this action, upon 6 request. If it becomes necessary for a party to show the 7 information to more than four experts, it must first seek permission 8 from the opposing party. If such permission is denied, the party 9 seeking further disclosure may move the Court; 10 (d) Paralegal, stenographic, clerical and secretarial personnel regularly 11 employed by counsel of record to whom disclosure is reasonably 12 necessary in connection with this litigation, provided that each 13 such person first acknowledges in writing, under oath, that he or 14 she has read the Protective Order and agrees to be bound by its 15 terms, and provided further that such person first acknowledges the 16 she/he does not have a business or competitive conflict with any 17 Party. This acknowledgment shall be made by execution of the 18 Declaration attached hereto as Exhibit A; and 19 (e) Any other Person to whom the Producing Person agrees in writing. 20 Nothing in this Order shall prohibit a Party, or Persons employed or formerly 21 employed by or affiliated with such Party, from reviewing the Materials it 22 designates as Highly Confidential Formula – Attorneys’ Eyes Only, or from 23 reviewing any Materials it has authored or on which it is identified as a recipient. 24 Except as otherwise specifically noted, all procedures in the remaining 25 paragraphs of this Protective Order that govern the treatment of information 26 designated as Confidential or Highly Confidential shall also govern the treatment 27 of information designated as “Highly Confidential Formula – Attorneys’ Eyes 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 1 Only.” If a provision provides for different treatment of information designated as 2 Confidential and Highly Confidential, then the “Highly Confidential Formula – 3 Attorneys’ Eyes Only” information shall be entitled to the higher level of 4 protection. 5 6. Access to Material Designated “Highly Confidential.” Material 6 designated “Highly Confidential” may be disclosed only to the following: 7 (a) Counsel of record for any Party, including in-house counsel; 8 (b) Paralegal, stenographic, clerical, and secretarial personnel regularly 9 employed by counsel listed in (a) above; 10 (c) Court personnel, including stenographic reporters engaged in such 11 proceedings as are necessarily incident to preparation for trial and 12 trial of this action; 13 14 15 (d) Personnel of copy service firms or attorney service firms retained by counsel listed in (a) above in connection with this action; (e) Any independent consultant or expert, retained in connection with 16 this action, provided that each such person first acknowledges in 17 writing, under oath, that he or she has read this Protective Order 18 and agrees to be bound by its terms, and provided further that such 19 person first acknowledges the she/he does not have a business or 20 competitive conflict with any Party. This acknowledgment shall be 21 made by execution of the Declaration attached hereto as Exhibit A. 22 All such written acknowledgments shall be maintained by counsel 23 making the disclosure of the Protected Material, and shall be 24 provided to the opposing Party’s counsel at the conclusion of this 25 action, upon request; and 26 (f) Any other Person to whom the Producing Person agrees in writing. 27 Nothing in this Order shall prohibit a Party, or Persons employed or formerly 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 1 employed by or affiliated with such Party, from reviewing the Materials it 2 designates as Highly Confidential, or from reviewing any Materials it has authored 3 or on which it is identified as a recipient. 4 7. Access to Material Designated “Confidential.” Material designated 5 “Confidential” may be disclosed to any Person listed in paragraphs 5 and 6 above 6 and, in addition, may be disclosed to a Party; any officer, director, employee, or 7 former employee of a Party; or to any officer, director, employee, or former 8 employee of a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of a Party, disclosure to whom counsel 9 believes in good faith is necessary to assist in the prosecution or defense of this 10 action, provided that such Person agrees to maintain the confidentiality of the 11 information disclosed in accordance with the terms of this Protective Order by 12 execution of the Declaration attached hereto as Exhibit A. 13 8. Examination of Third Party Witnesses. Any Person may be 14 examined as a witness during a deposition concerning any Protected Material that 15 appears on its face or from other documents or testimony to have been received or 16 authored by that Person. During examination, an examining Party may show such 17 a witness such Protected Material. If a Party wishes to examine a witness during a 18 deposition concerning any Protected Material of another Person, and the witness 19 has not previously received, authored, or otherwise had lawful access to such 20 Protected Material, the examining Party shall first obtain the consent of the 21 Producing Person who designated the Material, or their attorneys, if any, and shall 22 require the witness to agree to maintain the confidentiality of the Protected 23 Material in accordance with the terms of this Protective Order by execution of the 24 Declaration attached hereto as Exhibit A. 25 9. Challenging Confidentiality Designations. By entering into this 26 Protective Order, no Party concedes that any Material designated as Protected 27 Material has been properly so designated. Should any Party object to any 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 1 confidentiality designation, the objecting Party shall provide written notice of the 2 basis for such objection to the Producing Party and shall attempt in good faith to 3 resolve the objection informally with the Producing Party as soon as practicable. If 4 the objection cannot be informally resolved within a reasonable time, the objecting 5 Party may move for an order determining whether the Materials are properly 6 designated, pursuant to Local Rule 37-1, et seq. Until a motion is filed and 7 resolved by the Court, all such Materials shall be treated as Protected Materials. 8 The foregoing is without prejudice to the right of any Person to apply to the Court 9 for modification of this Protective Order or for a further protective order relating to 10 Confidential Information. 11 10. Confidentiality Obligations to Third Parties. In the event that 12 information in the possession or control of a Person from whom discovery is 13 sought involves the confidentiality rights of a non-party or that its disclosure would 14 violate a Protective Order issued in another action, the Person with possession or 15 control of the information will attempt to obtain the consent of the non-party to 16 disclose the information subject to the terms of this Protective Order. If the 17 consent of the non-party cannot be obtained, the Person will notify the Party 18 seeking discovery of: (a) the existence of the information without producing such 19 information; and (b) the identity of the non-party (provided, however, that such 20 disclosure of the identity of the non-party in and of itself does not violate any 21 confidentiality obligation). The Party seeking discovery may then make further 22 application to the non-party or seek other means to obtain such information. 23 11. Inadvertent Disclosure of Confidential Information. Inadvertent 24 failure to designate as Protected Material any information pursuant to this Order 25 shall not constitute a waiver of any otherwise valid claim for protection thereof, so 26 long as such designation is asserted promptly following discovery of the 27 inadvertent failure. At such time, arrangements shall be made for the Producing 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 1 Party to appropriately mark the information in accordance with this Order. 2 12. Inadvertent Disclosure of Privileged Information. The production 3 (or making available for inspection) of Material without an express written notice 4 of intent to waive the attorney-client privilege or work product immunity or any 5 other applicable privilege or immunity from discovery shall not constitute a waiver 6 of the attorney-client privilege or work product immunity or any other applicable 7 privilege or immunity from discovery, so long as the Producing Person informs the 8 Receiving Person of the identity of the Materials the Producing Person contends 9 are privileged, reasonably promptly after the Producing Person becomes aware of 10 the specific Materials that were allegedly inadvertently produced. If the Receiving 11 Person becomes aware of specific Materials that it believes may be subject to a 12 claim of privilege by the Producing Person, the Receiving Person shall timely 13 notify the Producing Person of these specific Materials. Upon being made aware 14 of these Materials, the Producing Person shall timely designate any such Materials 15 as within the attorney-client privilege or work product immunity or any other 16 applicable privilege or immunity and request return of such Materials to the 17 Producing Person. Upon request by the Producing Person, the Receiving Person 18 shall immediately return all copies of such inadvertently produced Material(s), and 19 shall otherwise comply with the provisions of Federal Rule of Civil 20 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). Nothing herein shall prevent the Receiving Person from 21 challenging the propriety of the attorney-client privilege or work product immunity 22 or other applicable privilege or immunity designation by submitting a written 23 challenge to the Court, but any such challenge shall not assert as a basis the fact or 24 circumstances of the inadvertent production. If a claim is disputed, the Receiving 25 Person shall not use or disclose Materials for which a claim of privilege or 26 immunity is made pursuant to this paragraph for any purpose until the matter is 27 resolved by agreement of the parties or by the Court. This Order constitutes a party 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 1 agreement within the meaning of Federal Rule of Evidence 502(e), and upon 2 adoption by the Court a court order within the meaning of Federal Rule of 3 Evidence 502(d), and thus supersedes any inconsistent provisions of Federal Rule 4 of Evidence 502(b). 5 13. Conclusion of Action. This Protective Order, insofar as it restricts 6 the communication and use of Confidential Information, shall continue to be 7 binding throughout and after the conclusion of this action, including any appeals. 8 At the conclusion of this action, including appeals, counsel for each Party shall 9 either return to the Producing Person or destroy all Protected Materials, and shall 10 designate in writing that all such materials have in fact been returned or destroyed. 11 Notwithstanding the foregoing, counsel for the Parties need not return or destroy 12 any Protected Material that becomes a part of the Court record in this action, by use 13 as a trial exhibit, inclusion in a court filing, inclusion in any record on appeal, or 14 otherwise. 15 14. Inadmissibility. This Protective Order, the fact of its adoption or 16 entry, and any provision of this Protective Order or attached form shall not be 17 admissible for any purpose of this litigation, except to the extent necessary to 18 enforce its terms. In any such enforcement proceeding, the prevailing party shall 19 recover its reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses in maintaining such proceeding. 20 15. Reservation of Objections to Production. Nothing in this Protective 21 Order shall be construed as an agreement to produce any Material, or as a waiver of 22 any objections to the production of that Material. 23 16. Miscellaneous. Nothing in this Protective Order shall preclude any 24 party from making any claim of privilege as to any information requested by 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION 1 another party. Failure to designate Material as Protected Material shall not 2 constitute a waiver of any other claim of privilege. 3 4 IT IS SO ORDERED. 5 6 7 8 Dated: September 11, 2012 ___ Paul L. Abrams U.S. MAGISTRATE JUDGE 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER RE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

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