STC.UNM v. Intel Corporation

Filing 171

ORDER by Magistrate Judge W. Daniel Schneider GRANTING 67 Defendant's Motion to Amend Interim Protective Order. (sco)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO

STC.UNM,
Plaintiff,
v.

Civil No. 10-CV-01077-RB-WDS

INTEL CORPORATION,
Defendant.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO AMEND
THE INTERIM PROTECTIVE ORDER
THIS MATTER comes before the Court on Intel Corporation’s Motion to Amend the
Interim Protective Order. (Doc. 67) Two issues were presented in the motion. The first was a
question regarding the manner in which Plaintiff’s expert could review sensitive documents
produced by Intel. The second issue was the length of the prosecution bar applicable to Plaintiff’s
counsel and expert(s). The parties agree that the second issue was rendered moot by an earlier ruling
of the Court. The Court, having reviewed the briefs and exhibits submitted by the parties and heard
oral argument, and being otherwise fully informed, finds that the motion to amend is well taken and
it will be granted. Intel has produced credible evidence that its document production in this case
includes extremely confidential manufacturing process information. The information is potentially
worth billions of dollars and is export restricted for national security reasons. Defendant seeks to hold
Plaintiff’s expert to the same level of security that Defendant requires of its own employees. Such a high
level of security is, by definition, inconvenient. The Court is aware that requiring Plaintiff’s expert to
travel from Austin to Dallas or Chicago adds an additional burden and some additional cost to the
discovery process in this matter, but in the Court’s opinion that additional burden and cost are

significantly outweighed by Defendant’s interest in preserving the security of its most valuable
documents. Accordingly, the motion to amend is granted. The Court orders that the protective order be
amended so that STC is limited to a single copy of the materials, which must be kept at the offices of
Plaintiff’s counsel. The parties shall submit an amended confidentiality order to the Court within ten days
of the date of this order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.

________________________________
W. DANIEL SCHNEIDER
United States Magistrate Judge

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