TIG Global, LLC v. PC Specialists, Inc.
Filing
62
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER signed by Magistrate Judge Craig B. Shaffer on 5/3/12. (cbssec)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 10-cv-00307-WJM-CBS
TIG GLOBAL, LLC,
Plaintiff,
vs.
PC SPECIALISTS, INC.,
Defendant.
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
The Court recognizes that at least some of the documents and information ("materials")
being sought through discovery in the above-captioned action is normally kept confidential by
the parties. The parties have agreed to be bound by the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order
(“Order”) in this action.
The materials to be exchanged throughout the course of the litigation between the parties
may contain trade secret or other confidential research, technical, cost, price, financial,
marketing or other commercial information, as is contemplated by Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 26(c)(1)(G). The purpose of this Order is to protect the confidentiality of such
materials as much as practical during the litigation. THEREFORE:
DEFINITIONS
1.
The term "Confidential Information" shall mean and include information
contained or disclosed in any materials, including documents, portions of documents, answers to
interrogatories, responses to requests for admissions, trial testimony, deposition testimony, and
transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, including data, summaries, and compilations
derived therefrom that is deemed to be Confidential Information by any party to which it
belongs.
1
2.
The term "materials" shall include, but not be limited to: documents;
correspondence; memoranda; bulletins; blueprints; specifications; customer lists or other
material that identify customers or potential customers; price lists or schedules or other matter
identifying pricing; minutes; telegrams; letters; statements; cancelled checks; contracts; invoices;
drafts; books of account; worksheets; notes of conversations; desk diaries; appointment books;
expense accounts; recordings; photographs; motion pictures; compilations from which
information can be obtained and translated into reasonably usable form through detection
devices; sketches; drawings; notes (including laboratory notebooks and records); reports;
instructions; disclosures; other writings; models and prototypes and other physical objects;
computer e-mail and other data compilations from which information can be obtained and
translated into reasonable usable form. The word "materials" also means any writing, recorded
matter of every kind or description, however produced or reproduced, whether draft of final,
original or reproduction; tape recordings; electronic file notes and correspondence; and disk or
other magnetic storage device to enable the reading or translation of data.
3.
The term "counsel" shall mean attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, and other support
staff employed in the law firms identified below:
Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery
Yates Law Firm, LLC
Haight Brown & Bonesteel, LLP (counsel for MICROS Systems, Inc. in the California lawsuit
between PC Specialists and MICROS Systems, Inc.).
“Counsel” also includes H. Thomas Hicks, General Counsel for Defendant PC Specialists, Inc.;
Thomas Patz, Executive Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, and General Counsel for MICROS
Systems, Inc.; and Michael Tow, Senior Counsel for MICROS Systems, Inc. (MICROS Systems,
Inc. provides some administrative support for Defendant TIG Global, LLC, including in-house
legal services).
GENERAL RULES
4.
Each party to this litigation that produces or discloses any materials, answers to
interrogatories, responses to requests for admission, trial testimony, deposition testimony, and
2
transcripts of trial testimony and depositions, or information that the producing party believes
should be subject to this Order may designate the same as "CONFIDENTIAL" or
"CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY."
a.
Designation as "CONFIDENTIAL": Any party may designate information as
"CONFIDENTIAL" only if, in the good faith belief of such party and its counsel, the
unrestricted disclosure of such information (including but not limited to financial or other
commercial information) could be potentially prejudicial to the business or operations of such
party or is the type of information that it does not disclose to third parties.
b.
Designation as "CONFIDENTIAL -FOR COUNSEL ONLY": Any party may
designate information as "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY" only if, in the good faith
belief of such party and its counsel, the information is among that considered to be most
sensitive by the party, including but not limited to trade secret, customer lists, financial, or other
commercial information.
5.
In the event the producing party elects to produce materials for inspection, no
marking need be made by the producing party in advance of the initial inspection. For purposes
of the initial inspection, all materials produced shall be considered as "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR
COUNSEL ONLY," and shall be treated as such pursuant to the terms of this Order. Thereafter,
upon selection of specified materials for copying by the inspecting party, the producing party
shall, within a reasonable time prior to producing those materials to the inspecting party, mark
the copies of those materials that contain Confidential Information with the appropriate
confidentiality marking.
6.
Whenever a deposition taken on behalf of any party involves a disclosure of
Confidential Information of any party:
3
a.
the deposition or portions of the deposition must be designated as containing
Confidential Information subject to the provisions of this Order; such designation must be made
on the record whenever possible, but a party may designate portions of depositions as containing
Confidential Information after transcription of the proceedings; a party shall have until fourteen
(14) days after receipt of the deposition transcript to inform the other party or parties to the
action of the portions of the transcript designated "CONFIDENTIAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL
FOR COUNSEL ONLY;”
b.
the disclosing party will have the right to exclude from attendance at the
deposition, during such time as the Confidential Information is to be disclosed, any person other
than the deponent, counsel (including their staff and associates), the court reporter, and the
person(s) agreed upon pursuant to paragraph 8 below; and
c.
the originals of said deposition transcripts and all copies thereof shall bear the
legend "CONFIDENTIAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY," as appropriate,
and the original or any copy ultimately presented to a court for filing shall not be filed unless it
can be accomplished under seal, identified as being subject to this Order, and protected from
being opened except by order of this Court.
7.
All
Confidential
Information
designated
as
"CONFIDENTIAL"
or
"CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY" shall not be disclosed by the receiving party to
anyone other than those persons designated herein and shall be handled in the manner set forth
below and, in any event, shall not be used for any purpose other than in connection with this
litigation, unless and until such designation is removed either by agreement of the parties, or by
order of the Court.
8.
Information marked “CONFIDENTIAL –FOR COUNSEL ONLY” must be
viewed only by counsel (as defined in Paragraph 3) of the receiving party, and documents
designated as “CONFIDENTIAL –FOR COUNSEL ONLY” shall not be viewed by any noncounsel, sale/marketing employee, or officer of either Party, unless by agreement of the parties,
or by order of the Court. Information designated as "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL
ONLY" may be viewed by independent experts under the conditions set forth in this Paragraph.
4
The right of any independent expert to receive any CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY
designated information shall be subject to the advance approval of such expert by the producing
party or by permission of the Court. The party seeking approval of an independent expert shall
provide the producing party with the name and/or curriculum vitae of the proposed independent
expert, and an executed copy of the form attached hereto as Exhibit A, before providing any
CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY designated information of the producing party to
the expert. Any objection by the producing party to an independent expert receiving
CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY designated information must be made in writing
within 10 days following receipt of the identification of the proposed expert. CONFIDENTIAL FOR COUNSEL ONLY designated information may be disclosed to an independent expert if the
ten 10 day period has passed and no objection has been made. The approval of independent
experts shall not be unreasonably withheld.
9.
Information designated "CONFIDENTIAL" shall be viewed only by counsel (as
defined in paragraph 3) of the receiving party, by independent experts and by the additional
individuals listed below, provided each such individual has read this Order in advance of
disclosure and has agreed in writing to be bound by its terms:
(a)
Executives who participate in the policy decisions with reference to this action;
(b)
Technical personnel of the parties with whom counsel for the parties find it
necessary to consult, in the discretion of such counsel, in preparation for trial of
this action;
(c)
Stenographic and clerical employees associated with the individuals identified
above; and
(d)
Other persons, upon approval of the producing party, with such approval not to be
unreasonably withheld.
10.
With respect to material designated “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL –
FOR COUNSEL ONLY,” any person indicated on the face of the document to be its originator,
author or a recipient of a copy thereof, may be shown the same.
5
11.
All information which has been designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" or
"CONFIDENTIAL -FOR COUNSEL ONLY" by the producing or disclosing party, and any and
all reproductions thereof, shall be retained in the custody of the counsel for the receiving party
identified in paragraph 3, except that independent experts authorized to view such information
under the terms of this Order may retain custody of copies such as are necessary for their
participation in this litigation.
12.
Before any materials produced in discovery, answers to interrogatories, responses
to requests for admissions, deposition transcripts, or other documents which are designated as
Confidential Information are filed with the Court for any purpose, the party seeking to file such
material must seek permission of the Court to file the material under seal.
13.
At any stage of these proceedings, any party may object to a designation of the
materials as Confidential Information. The party objecting to confidentiality shall notify, in
writing, counsel for the designating party of the objected-to materials and the grounds for the
objection. If the dispute is not resolved consensually between the parties within seven business
days of receipt of such a notice of objections, the objecting party may move the Court for a
ruling on the objection. The materials at issue shall be treated as Confidential Information, as
designated by the designating party, until the Court has ruled on the objection or the matter has
been otherwise resolved.
14.
All Confidential Information shall be held in confidence by those inspecting or
receiving it, and shall be used only for purposes of this action. Counsel for each party, and each
person receiving Confidential Information, shall take reasonable precautions to prevent the
unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of such information. If Confidential Information is
disclosed to any person other than a person authorized by this Order, the party responsible for the
unauthorized disclosure must immediately bring all pertinent facts relating to the unauthorized
disclosure to the attention of the other parties and, without prejudice to any rights and remedies
of the other parties, make every effort to prevent further disclosure by the party and by the
person(s) receiving the unauthorized disclosure.
6
15.
If a party inadvertently produces a document that it later discovers to be a
privileged document, the production of that document shall not be deemed to constitute the
waiver of any applicable privileges.
In such circumstances, the producing party must
immediately notify the receiving party of the inadvertent production, and request the return or
confirmed destruction of the privileged materials.
Within five (5) days of receiving such
notification, the receiving party shall return or confirm destruction of all such materials,
including any summaries thereof. Such return or confirmation of destruction shall not preclude
the receiving party from seeking to compel production of the materials for reasons other than its
inadvertent production.
16.
No party shall be responsible to another party for disclosure of Confidential
Information under this Order if the information in question is not labeled or otherwise identified
as such in accordance with this Order.
17.
If a party, through inadvertence, produces any Confidential Information without
labeling or marking or otherwise designating it as such in accordance with this Order, the
designating party may give written notice to the receiving party that the document or thing
produced is deemed Confidential Information, and that the document or thing produced should
be treated as such in accordance with that designation under this Order. The receiving party must
treat the materials as confidential, once the designating party so notifies the receiving party. If
the receiving party has disclosed the materials before receiving the designation, the receiving
party must notify the designating party in writing of each such disclosure. Counsel for the parties
shall agree on a mutually acceptable manner of labeling or marking the inadvertently produced
materials as "CONFIDENTIAL" or "CONFIDENTIAL - FOR COUNSEL ONLY" – SUBJECT
TO PROTECTIVE ORDER.
18.
Nothing within this Order will prejudice the right of any party to object to the
production of any discovery material on the grounds that the material is protected as privileged
or as attorney work product or the right to object and/or seek additional protective orders from
the Court for discovery requests that fall outside the scope of the Stipulated Protective Order.
7
19.
Nothing in this Order shall bar counsel from rendering advice to their clients with
respect to this litigation and, in the course thereof, relying upon any information designated as
Confidential Information, provided that the contents of the information shall not be disclosed.
20.
This Order shall be without prejudice to the right of any party to oppose
production of any information for lack of relevance or any other ground other than the mere
presence of Confidential Information. The existence of this Order shall not be used by either
party as a basis for discovery that is otherwise improper under the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure.
21.
Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent disclosure of Confidential
Information if such disclosure is required by law or by order of the Court.
22.
Upon final termination of this action, including any and all appeals, counsel for
each party shall, upon request of the producing party, return all Confidential Information to the
party that produced the information, including any copies, excerpts, and summaries thereof, or
shall destroy same at the option of the receiving party, and shall purge all such information from
all machine-readable media on which it resides. Notwithstanding the foregoing, counsel for each
party may retain all pleadings, briefs, memoranda, motions, and other documents filed with the
Court that refer to or incorporate Confidential Information, and will continue to be bound by this
Order with respect to all such retained information. Further, attorney work product materials that
contain Confidential Information need not be destroyed, but, if they are not destroyed, the person
in possession of the attorney work product will continue to be bound by this Order with respect
to all such retained information.
23.
The restrictions and obligations set forth herein shall not apply to any information
that: (a) the parties agree should not be designated Confidential Information; (b) the parties
agree, or the Court rules, is already public knowledge; (c) the parties agree, or the Court rules,
has become public knowledge other than as a result of disclosure by the receiving party, its
employees, or its agents in violation of this Order; or (d) has come or shall come into the
receiving party's legitimate knowledge independently of the production by the designating party.
Prior knowledge must be established by pre-production documentation.
8
24.
The restrictions and obligations herein shall not be deemed to prohibit discussions
of any Confidential Information with anyone if that person already has or obtains legitimate
possession thereof.
25.
Transmission by email is acceptable for all notification purposes within this
26.
This Order may be modified by agreement of the parties, subject to approval by
Order.
the Court.
27.
The Court may modify the terms and conditions of this Order for good cause, or
in the interest of justice, or on its own order at any time in these proceedings.
DATED at Denver, Colorado, this 3rd day of May 2012.
BY THE COURT:
s/Craig B. Shaffer
Craig B. Shaffer
United States Magistrate Judge
9
EXHIBIT A
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
Civil Action No. 10-cv-00307-WJM
TIG GLOBAL, LLC,
Plaintiff,
vs.
PC SPECIALISTS, INC.,
Defendant,
______________________________________________________________________________
AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY PROTECTIVE ORDER
I, ______________________________________, declare and say that:
1.
I am employed as ___________________________________________________
by___________________________________________________________________________
2.
I have read the Protective Order entered in ______________ v. _____________,
Case No. ___________________, and have received a copy of the Protective Order.
10
3.
I promise that I will use any and all “Confidential” or “Confidential –For Counsel
Only” information, as defined in the Protective Order, given to me only in a manner authorized
by the Protective Order, and only to assist counsel in the litigation of this matter.
4.
I promise that I will not disclose or discuss such “Confidential” or “Confidential –
For Counsel Only” information with anyone other than the persons described in Paragraph 3, 8
and 9 of the Protective Order.
5.
I acknowledge that, by signing this agreement, I am subjecting myself to the
jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado with respect to
enforcement of the Protective Order.
6.
I understand that any disclosure or use of “Confidential” or “Confidential –For
Counsel Only” information in any manner contrary to the provisions of the Protective Order may
subject me to sanctions for contempt of court.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the forgoing is true and correct.
DATED:_________________
SIGNATURE _____________________________________
11
Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.
Why Is My Information Online?