Christian Dior Couture SA v. Lin et al

Filing 99

PROTECTIVE ORDER...regarding procedures to be followed that shall govern the handling of confidential material..., Motions terminated: 98 MOTION for Protective Order . filed by Louis Vuitton Malletier, Christian Dior Couture SA. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein on 4/3/23) (yv)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
CHRISTIAN DIOR COUTURE SA and LOUIS
VUITTON MALLETIER,

Civil Case No. 22-cv-10716

Plaintiffs,
-againstXIAOLE LIN, TIMI GIFT SHOP, INC., SHUN
MIAO DING, GUO L. HUANG, XIAOWEI GAO,
XINGYUN HU, MING LI, XIUQIAN CHI, FEI Y.
LU, YONGCHAN ZHANG, YU HOU QU, CAI
QIN XIE, XIAOLIU WANG a/k/a LI LI WANG,
and JOHN and JANE DOES 1-100,

~ ] PROTECTIVE ORDER

Defendants.

Pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § l 116(d)(7) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c), the following Protective
Order is hereby entered by the Court to govern the use and disclosure of certain information,
documents and things described below and obtained by the parties through discovery, ex parte
seizure, or otherwise in this action.
1.

Section 1116(d)(7) provides that "[ a]ny materials seized under this subsection shall

be taken into the custody of the court. For seizures made under this section, the court shall enter
an appropriate protective order with respect to discovery and use of any records or information
that has been seized. The protective order shall provide for appropriate procedures to ensure that
confidential, private, proprietary, or privileged information contained in such records is not
improperly disclosed or used."
2.

This Protective Order will apply to all information, documents, and things,

including all electronically stored information, that has been seized pursuant to the January 4, 2023
Temporary Restraining Order entered in this action (the "TRO Order"), and/or produced or

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provided in the course of discovery, at trial, and/or otherwise as part of this legal proceeding by
the parties or any non-party in this action, including without limitation, testimony adduced at
depositions upon oral examination or upon written questions, answers to interrogatories,
documents and things produced or otherwise provided, information obtained from inspection of
premises or things, and answers to requests for admission (hereafter collectively, "Information and
Materials").
3.

The party or person providing or disclosing Information and Materials may

designate as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential - Attorneys Eyes Only" only the portion of
such Information and Materials that it reasonably and in good faith believes (a) not to be in the
public and (b) to contain any trade secret or other confidential research, development, or
commercial information that, if disclosed, would materially harm its business operations.
Information and Materials shared with third-parties or co-defendants, such as text messages or
emails, shall not be designated as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential-Attorneys Eyes Only."
4.

The "Highly Confidential -Attorneys' Eyes Only" designation is reserved for those

circumstances where the producing party believes that any Information and Materials contains
confidential information of a highly sensitive nature, and the producing party has a good faith
belief that, notwithstanding the terms of this Protective Order, disclosure of such information
would cause the receiving party to obtain a business (not legal) advantage over the producing party.
Documents, information, or things designated "Highly Confidential - Attorneys Eyes Only" shall
not be disclosed to the parties hereto (besides the producing party) and the persons identified in
Paragraph 6(g), absent a Court order.
5.

Nothing in this Protective Order requires the production of privileged or work-

product Information and Materials, or any Information and Materials that are otherwise not subject

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to discovery. In accordance with Federal Rule of Evidence 502, except when a party intentionally
waives attorney-client privilege or work-product protection by disclosing such information and
indicating its intention to waive privilege to an adverse party, the disclosure of attorney-client or
work-product protected information does not constitute a waiver in this or any other proceeding.
If a producing party inadvertently discloses to a receiving party information that is privileged, said
producing party shall promptly upon discovery of such disclosure so advise the receiving party in
writing and request that the item( s) of information be returned, and no party to this action shall
thereafter assert that such disclosure waived any privilege. It is further agreed that the receiving
party will return such inadvertently produced item(s) of information and all copies thereof within
three (3) business days ofreceiving a written request for the return of such item(s) of information.
6.

Information and Materials designated as "Confidential" may be disclosed only to

the following persons or entities:
a.

the parties;

b.

in-house counsel for the parties and outside counsel ofrecord for the parties,

and employees of each to whom it is necessary that "Confidential" information be
shown for purposes of this litigation;
c.

persons who wrote, created, or previously received the "Confidential"

information and such persons' counsel;
d.

independent investigators, experts, consultants, translators or other vendors

for each party and their clerical personnel, who are not employees of the parties,
with disclosure only to the extent necessary to perform such work in connection
with this litigation;

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e.

this Court, including any appellate court, its support personnel, court

reporters, stenographers, and translators;
f.

any federal, state, foreign, or local law enforcement officer(s), including but

not limited to the U.S. Marshals Service, the New York City Police Department,
the New Jersey Police Department, and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
and
g.

any witnesses who counsel for a party in good faith believes may be called

to testify at trial or deposition in this action.
7.

Information and Materials designated as "Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes

Only" may be disclosed only to the persons identified in Paragraph 6(b )-(f), absent a Court order.
8.

The persons described in Paragraphs 6(d) and (g) shall only have access to the

"Confidential" and "Highly Confidential - Attorneys Eyes Only" Information and Materials once
they have signed the Non-Disclosure Agreement attached as Exhibit A hereto, which shall be
maintained and kept by counsel.
9.

Each individual who receives any "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential -

Attorneys' Eyes Only" Information and Materials under this Protective Order agrees to subject
himself/herself to the jurisdiction of the Court for the purpose of any proceedings relating to the
performance under, compliance with, or violation of this Protective Order.
10.

The recipient of any "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes

Only" Information and Material that is provided under this Protective Order shall take all due
precautions to prevent the unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of such material.
11.

With respect to Information and Materials designated as "Confidential" or "Highly

Confidential -Attorneys' Eyes Only," a party or person providing or disclosing Information and

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Materials of any kind produced or disclosed in the course of discovery in this action ("Producing
Party") other than deposition transcripts and exhibits or its counsel may designate such portion as
"Confidential" or "Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only" by stamping or otherwise clearly
marking as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only" the protected portion
in a manner that will not interfere with legibility or audibility.
12.

A Producing Party or its counsel may designate deposition exhibits or portions of

deposition transcripts (including any videorecording thereof) as "Confidential" or "Highly
Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only" Information and Materials of any kind produced or disclosed
in the course of discovery in this action either by: (a) indicating on the record during the deposition
that a question calls for "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only"
information, in which case the reporter will bind the transcript of the designated testimony in a
separate volume and mark it as "Confidential Information Governed by Protective Order," or
"Highly Confidential -Attorneys' Eyes Only Information Governed by Protective Order," or (b)
notifying the reporter and all counsel of record, in writing, within 30 days after a deposition has
concluded, of the specific pages and lines of the transcript (and, if videorecorded, the hour and
minute ranges on such recording) that are to be designated "Confidential," or "Highly Confidential
-Attorneys' Eyes Only" in which case all counsel receiving the transcript and/or video recording
will be responsible for marking the copies of the designated transcript and/or video recordings in
their possession or under their control as directed by the Producing Party or its counsel. During
the 30-day period following a deposition, all parties will treat the entire deposition transcript and/or
video recording as if it had been designated Confidential.
13.

If at any time before the trial of this action a Producing Party realizes that it should

have designated as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only" some

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portion( s) of Information and Materials of any kind produced or disclosed in the course of
discovery in this action that it previously produced without limitation, the Producing Party may so
designate such material by apprising all prior recipients in writing. Thereafter, this Court and all
persons subject to this Order will treat such designated portion(s) of the Information and Materials
as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only" in accordance with this Order.
14.

Any party who objects to any designation of confidentiality may at any time before

the trial of this action serve upon counsel for the producing party a written notice stating with
particularity the grounds of the objection. If the parties cannot reach agreement promptly, counsel
for the objecting party will address the dispute to this Court for a determination. The burden of
proving that Information and Materials have been properly designated as "Confidential" is on the
party asserting such designation.
15.

Recipients of "Confidential" Information and Materials under this Order may use

such material solely for the prosecution and defense of this action and any appeals thereto, and not
for any business, commercial or competitive purpose or in any other litigation proceeding. Nothing
contained in this Order, however, will affect or restrict the rights of any party with respect to its
own documents or information produced in this action.
16.

In the event that any party wishes to submit Information and Materials designated

as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only" to the Court, such party shall
follow the procedures prescribed by the Court for filing documents under seal, including filing a
motion supported by competent evidence showing that sealing is essential to preserve higher
values and is narrowly tailored to serve that interest.
17.

Producing or receiving Information and Materials designated as "Confidential" or

"Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only," or otherwise complying with the terms of this

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Protective Order, shall not (a) operate as an admission by any party that any particular Information
and Materials designated as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only"
contains or reflects trade secrets or any other type of confidential or proprietary information; (b)
prejudice the rights of a party to object to the production of Information or Material that the party
does not consider to be within the scope of discovery; (c) prejudice the rights of a party to seek a
determination by the Court that particular materials be produced; (d) prejudice the rights of a party
to apply to the Court for further protective orders; or (e) prevent the parties from agreeing in
writing to alter or waive the provisions or protections provided for herein with respect to any
particular Information or Material.
18.

This Protective Order shall survive the final termination of this or related

proceedings to the extent that the "Confidential" information has not become known to the public.
19.

Nothing in this Protective Order shall preclude any party to the civil action, their

attorneys, or any other person from disclosing or using, in any manner or for any purpose, any
information or documents not obtained in discovery in this lawsuit, if such information is lawfully
obtained from a third party having the right to disclose such information, even though the same
information or documents may have been produced in discovery in this proceeding and designated
as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential -Attorneys' Eyes Only."
20.

Nothing in this Order will prevent any party from producing any Information and

Materials designated as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only" in its
possession in response to a lawful subpoena or other compulsory process, or if required to produce
by law or by any government agency having jurisdiction, provided that such party gives written
notice to the Producing Party as soon as reasonably possible, and if permitted by the time allowed
under any such request, at least 10 calendar days before any disclosure. Upon receiving such

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notice, the Producing Party will bear the burden to oppose compliance with the subpoena, other
compulsory process or other legal notice if the Producing Party deems it appropriate to do so.
21.

Nothing in this Protective Order shall preclude any party to the proceeding or their

attorneys: (a) from showing a document designated as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential Attorneys' Eyes Only" to an individual who either prepared or reviewed the document prior to the
filing of this action; or (b) from disclosing or using, in any manner or for any purpose, any
information or documents from the party's own files that the party itself has designated as
"Confidential" or "Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only." Nothing in this Protective Order
will bar or otherwise restrict any attorney from rendering advice to his or her client with respect to
this proceeding and, in the course of the proceeding, referring to or relying upon his or her
examination of "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only" Information and
Materials; provided, that in rendering such advice and in otherwise communicating with clients,
the attorney will not make specific disclosure to any person of any "Confidential" or "Highly
Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only" Information and Materials unless otherwise permitted by
this Protective Order.
22.

Any person bound by this Protective Order may rely on a waiver or consent that is

made by an attorney for a party as if that waiver or consent was made by that party or person,
provided that such waiver or consent shall be either in writing or on record in a hearing, trial, or
deposition transcript.
23.

Within 60 days of the final disposition of this action, including all appeals, all

recipients of Information and Materials designated as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential Attorneys' Eyes Only" must either return it including all copies thereof to the Producing Party, or,
upon permission of the Producing Party, destroy such material including all copies thereof. In

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either event, by the 60-day deadline, the recipient must certify its return or destruction by
submitting a written certification to the Producing Party that affirms that it has not retained any
copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries or other forms of reproducing or capturing any of the
Information and Materials designated as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes
Only." Notwithstanding this provision, the attorneys that the parties have specifically retained for
this action may retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, transcripts, expert reports,
legal memoranda, correspondence or attorney work product, even if such materials contain
Information and Materials designated as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes
Only." Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Information and Materials designated
as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential -Attorneys' Eyes Only" remain subject to this Order.
24.

This Court will retain jurisdiction over all persons subject to this Order to the extent

necessary to enforce any obligations arising hereunder or to impose sanctions for any contempt
thereof.

SO ORDERED, this day of Aprii_3__, 2023.

Hon. Alvin K. Hellerstein, U.S.D.J.

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EXHIBIT A

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
CHRISTIAN DIOR COUTURE SA and LOUIS
VUITTON MALLETIER,

Civil Case No. 22-cv-10716

Plaintiffs,
-against-

NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT

XIAOLE LIN, TIMI GIFT SHOP, INC., SHUN
MIAO DING, GUO L. HUANG, XIAOWEI GAO,
XINGYUN HU, MING LI, XIUQIAN CHI, FEI Y.
LU, YONGCHAN ZHANG, YU HOU QU, CAI
QIN XIE, XIAOLIU WANG a/k/a LI LI WANG,
and JOHN and JANE DOES 1-100,
Defendants.

I,

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - , acknowledge that I have read and

understand the Protective Order in this action, governing the non-disclosure of those portions of
Information and Materials that have been designated as "Confidential" or "Highly Confidential Attorneys Eyes Only." I agree that I will not disclose such confidential Information and Materials
to anyone other than those authorized to receive such material under the Protective Order and only
for purposes of this litigation, and that at the conclusion of the litigation I will return all discovery
information to the Party or attorney from whom I received it. By acknowledging these obligations
under the Protective Order, I understand that I am submitting myself to the jurisdiction of the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for the purpose of any issue or
dispute arising hereunder and that my willful violation of any term of the Protective Order could
subject me to punishment for contempt of Court.

Dated: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
Signature

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