TVB Holdings (USA), Inc. et al v. HTV International Limited et al

Filing 36

Minute Order for proceedings held before Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo. Status Conference held by telephone on 9/14/2016. Attorneys Lance Koonce and George Wukoson for Plaintiffs. Attorneys Timothy Wang and John T. McNamara for Defendants. The Court discussed the parties' Stipulation and Proposed Protective Order 30 , which is so-ordered with the modifications as annexed. The Court heard the parties on Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel 33 , and granted the mo tion. Defendants' counsel were reminded that sanctions may be imposed if Defendants do not meet their discovery obligations, particularly with respect to ESI. The parties were ordered to meet and confer regarding ESI, and Defendants are to giv e Plaintiffs a definite deadline by which production will be complete. Defendants are also to amend their interrogatory responses so that they either answer the questions asked or give information regarding specific documents. Given that Plaintiffs have agreed to depose Defendants in Hong Kong, if second depositions by Plaintiffs are necessitated by insufficient production by Defendants, the Court will consider shifting the cost of the second depositions to the Defendants. The parties are to file a status report by December 2, 2016 updating the Court on the progress of discovery; if the parties wish to schedule a settlement conference, they should also propose in the status report several possible dates on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday for a settlement conference beginning at 2:00 p.m. before Judge Kuo. (Tape #11:03-11:10.) (Feldman, Shira)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

TVB HOLDINGS (USA), INC.; CHINA
CENTRAL TELEVISION; CHINA
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS
CO., LTD.; and DISH NETWORK L.L.C.,
Plaintiffs,

CIVIL ACTION NO. 16-CV-1489
(DLI)(PK)
STIPULATED
PROTECTIVE ORDER

v.
HTV INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, and
JOHN DOES 1-10,
Defendant.

Based on the stipulation between plaintiffs TVB Holdings (USA), Inc., China Central
Television, China International Communications Co., Ltd. and DISH Network L.L.C.
(“Plaintiffs”) on the one hand, and defendant HTV International Limited (“Defendant”) on the
other, by and through their respective undersigned counsel, it is hereby ORDERED as follows:
1. A.

PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary, or
private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any
purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby
stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties
acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses
to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the
limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal
principles.

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B.

GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists, tax returns and
other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary
information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose
other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials
and information consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial information,
information regarding confidential business practices, or other confidential research,
development, or commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of
third parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be
privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case
decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the
prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect
information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted
reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to
address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order
for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will
not be designated as “confidential” or “confidential attorneys’ eyes only” for tactical reasons and
that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a
confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public
record of this case.
2. DEFINITIONS
2.1

Action: this pending federal lawsuit.

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2.2

Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of

information or items under this Order.
2.3

“CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is

generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule
of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause Statement.
2.4

Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that

it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL” or
“CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY.”
2.5

Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the

medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things,
testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or
responses to discovery in this matter.
2.6

Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to

the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a
consultant in this Action.
2.7

House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. House

Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.
2.8

Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal

entity not named as a Party to this action.
2.9

Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to this

Action but have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm
which has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.

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2.10

Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, employees,

and consultants..
2.11

Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery

Material in this Action.
2.12

Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services

(e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and
organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and
subcontractors.
2.13

Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as

“CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY.”
2.14

Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a

Producing Party.
2.15

“CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” Information or Items: to the

extent a Party believes that certain information or tangible thing qualifying to be designated
CONFIDENTIAL is so sensitive to the producing Party’s business that its dissemination
deserves even further limitation, the producing Party may designate such Protected Material
“CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.”
3.

SCOPE

The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material
(as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2)
all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony,
conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

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Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial judge. This
Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
4.

DURATION

Including after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed
by this Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a
court order otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of
all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein
after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this
Action, including the time limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time
pursuant to applicable law.
5.

DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

5.1

Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party

or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care
to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards.
The Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents,
items, or oral or written communications that qualify so that other portions of the material,
documents, items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept
unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.

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If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated
for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other
Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
5.2

Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order

(see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered,
Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so
designated before the material is disclosed or produced.
Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
(a)

for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but

excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing
Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEYS’
EYES ONLY” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIALITY legend”), to each page that contains
Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection,
the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making
appropriate markings in the margins). A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents
available for inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has
indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before
the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed
“CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,
or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified
documents, the Producing Party must affix the proper “CONFIDENTIALITY legend” to each
page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page

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qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s)
(e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
(b)

for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the

Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all protected
testimony.
(c)

for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any other

tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the
container or containers in which the information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or
“CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” If only a portion or portions of the
information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the
protected portion(s).
5.3

Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to

designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s
right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a
designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is
treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.
6.

CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

6.1

Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of

confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order.
6.2

Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution

process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
6.3

The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the

Designating Party.

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Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality
designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to
which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
challenge.
7.

ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

7.1

Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed

or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action only for
prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material may be
disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order.
When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of
section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). Protected Material must be stored and maintained by
a Receiving Party at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the
persons authorized under this Order.
7.2

Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise

ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may
disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
(a)

the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well as

employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the
information for this Action;
(b)

the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Receiving

Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;

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(c)

Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is

reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement
to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
(d)

the court and its personnel;

(e)

court reporters and their staff;

(f)

professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional Vendors to

whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
(g)

the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a custodian or

other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
(h)

during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action to

whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party requests that the
witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any
confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound”
(Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of
transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be
separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted
under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
(i)

any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually

agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
7.3

Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” Information or

Items. Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL

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ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” only to persons identified in Paragraph 7.2(a), (c)-(i) above and
to one in-house attorney at DISH Network L.L.C. who is not a competitive business decision
maker.
8.

PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN

OTHER LITIGATION
If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels
disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as “CONFIDENTIAL” or
“CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” that Party must:
(a)

promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a

copy of the subpoena or court order;
(b)

promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in

the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to
this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order;
and
(c)

cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the

Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating Party timely
seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order shall not produce any
information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL
ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or
order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating
Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential
material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a
Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.

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9.

A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED

IN THIS LITIGATION
(a)

The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in

this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEYS’ EYES
ONLY.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is
protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should
be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
(b)

In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a

Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement
with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall:
(1)

promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or

all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
(2)

promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order in

this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the
information requested; and
(3)

make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party, if

requested.
(c)

If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14 days of

receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the NonParty’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely
seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession
or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a

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determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the
burden and expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
10.

UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected
Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective
Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the
unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the
Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were
made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the
“Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
11.

INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

PROTECTED MATERIAL
When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently
produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the
Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This
provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery
order that provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of
Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a
communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product
protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order
submitted to the court.

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12.

MISCELLANEOUS

12.1

Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to

seek its modification by the Court in the future.
12.2

Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective

Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any
information or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly,
no Party waives any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material
covered by this Protective Order.
12.3

Filing Protected Material The following procedures shall be followed with respect

to court proceedings:
(a)

Pleadings, motions, and supporting briefs and exhibits submitted to the Court

containing “Confidential” or “Confidential Attorneys’ Eyes Only” information shall be filed in
redacted form pursuant to Paragraph II(b) of the Individual Practices in Civil Cases of the
Honorable Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo, and the Eastern District of New York’s instructions for
electronically filing sealed documents referenced therein.
(b)

Any court hearing which refers to or describes “Confidential” or “Confidential

Attorneys Eyes Only” information shall in the Court’s discretion be held in camera.
13.

FINAL DISPOSITION
After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60

days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all
Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision,
“all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other
format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is

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returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to the Producing
Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that
(1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts,
compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all
pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,
correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and
consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such
archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective
Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).

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14.

Any violation of 也1S Order rnay be punish吋 by any and all appropriate m個sures

including, without limitation，∞n伽npt proceedings and/or monetary 開nctions.

STIPULATED BY:

By:

弦 、7 所

By:

Rob前t

D. Bal旭

Timo也.y T. Wang (pro

hac vice)
Texas Bar No. 24067927
Hao Ni (pro hac vice)
Texas Bar No. 24047205

robb叫血@dwt.∞m

LacyH. :K!∞'ncc，

m

1m悅。on切@d叫.∞m

George P.

hni這~a耐1m.∞m

Wukoωn

N個1 G. Massand (pro hac vice)
Texas Bar No. 24039038

georgewukoson@dwt.∞m
Da'
討s

Wright Tremaine LLP
1251 Avenue ofthe Ameri個S
New York, NY 10020
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

nmωsand@nila，祕rrn.∞m

NI, WANG & MASSAND , PLLC
8140 Wa1nut Hill Ln., Stc. 500
Dall筒， TX 75231
Tc1: (972) 331 -4600
Fax: (97勾 31 4-ω∞

Attorn句IS for Plaintijfs n官 Holdings 任怨。'
lnc. , China Central 品的lÌSion， China
lnterηational Communi，ωtions Co., Ltd. and
DISHN全twork L.L. C.

John T. McNamara
l
jmcnamara@gering咐。lan..∞m

GER的GER &DOLAN LLP
5 Hanov前 Square - 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10004
Tel句rhone: [phone]
Attorn砂'sforDφndant

HTV lnternational Limited

Dated: Brooklyn, New York
IT September 15, 2016
IS SO ORDERED:
Dated 也is 一_dayof一一一一， 2016

United S凶的 Magis凶teJudge

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15

EXHIBIT A
ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of _________________
[print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and
understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for
the Eastern District of New York on ____________[date] in the case of TVB Holdings (USA),
Inc., et al. v. HTV International Limited, et al., Civil Action No. 16-CV-1489 (DLI)(PK). I agree
to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I
understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and
punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner
any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity
except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. I further agree to submit to the
jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York for the
purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement
proceedings occur after termination of this action. I hereby appoint
__________________________ [print or type full name] of
______________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone number]
as my New York agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings
related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
Date: ______________________________________
City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________

Printed name: _______________________________
Signature: __________________________________

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