Varnell v. Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC

Filing 33

Consent PROTECTIVE ORDER - Signed by Magistrate Judge Robert B. Jones, Jr on 10/14/2016. (Briggeman, N.)

IN THE UNITED StATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
WESTERN DIVISION
No.: 5:15-cv-660-D
JAMES E. VARNELL,
Plaintiff,

)
)
)
)

)

~

BRIDGESTONE AMERICAS TIRE
OPERATIONS, LLC,
Defendant.

)
)
)
)
)

CONSENT PROTECTIVE ORDER
(BUSINESS, TECHNICAL AND
COMMERCIALLY-SENSITIVE INFORMATION)

During the course of discovery, the parties may exchange information, to include
documents and testimony containing information, which a party may claim is proprietary as
sensitive business, commercial or other technical information, the uncontrolled release of which
would cause the producing party competitive harm. In order to facilitate this discovery while
protecting the producing party's proprietary interests, it is hereby ORDERED:
I.
A.

The parties recognize that discovery in this matter may call for the production of

materials containing confidential and proprietary business, technical and other commercially
sensitive information, and/or personal information about third-parties, and that the producing
party may claim it has a protected proprietary and property interest in those materials, or
otherwise has an interest in preventing the dissemination of information about third-parties.
B.

If the producing party has a good faith factual and legal basis for asserting a

privilege or exemption from public disclosure, the producing party may designate as

-2-

"CONFIDENTIAL" the portion of any produced material it considers subject to its claim of
privilege or exemption in accordance with Section I.F, below, relying on the terms· of this
Protective Order ("Protective Order") in producing that information. Such "CONFIDENTIAL"
designation shall make the designated portions of those produced materials and all copies, prints,
sumniaries, translations, or other reproductions of such material subject to this Protective Order.
This Protective Order also shall apply to the specific pages and lines from oral depositions as
well as any discovery responses, designated as "CONFIDENTIAL" by the producing party in
accordance with Section I.G, below.
C.

When used in this Agreed Protective Order, the word "CONFIDENTIAL" means

designated research, development, and -other technical or other commercially sensitive
information of the producing party and/or personal information about third-parties.
D.

When used in this Protective Order, the term ''CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL"

means all designated written materials, computer documents, specifications, design drawings,
mold drawings, tire standards, claims histories, adjustment data, testing documentation,
videotapes, responses to Interrogatories, Requests for Production, Requests For Admission, or
other written discovery referencing confidential material, deposition transcripts, documents
produced by the producing party to any governmental agency or body such as the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") at any time and deemed by that agency or
body to be Confidential pursuant to 49 CFR § 512, or other similar regulations, and all other
designated tangible items which disclose "CONFIDENTIAL" information, whether produced in
hard-copy, on CD-ROMs or DVDs, or any other media.

Nothing in this Protective Order,

however, shall be interpreted to require the production of any trade secret information as defined
in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 66-152 et seq. or otherwise, unless so ordered by the court.

-3E.

The burden of proving the confidential nature of designated information is on the

producing party. Prior to designating any material as "CONFIDENTIAL" and subject to this
Protective Order, the producing party must make a bona fide determination that the material is,
in fact, confidential as defmed above, the dissemination of which would significantly damage the
producing party's competitive position or impact the privacy rights of third-parties.
F;

In order to designate a portion of any document or other printed material as

· "CONFIDENTIAL," the producing party shall mark the designated pages of the material with
the word "CONFIDENTIAL" in a manner that does not obscure, or impair the legibility of any
information contained within the material, but makes it difficult to remove the designation. In
order to designate a computer database, disc, compact disc, drive, or other electronically
recorded material as "CONFIDENTIAL," the producing party shall mark the disc, case or
envelope containing the material with the word "CONFIDENTIAL." Documents printed from
such electronic media shall be marked the same as documents originally produced on paper.
G.

In the case' of a deposition or oral examination, counsel for the producing party

may, during the deposition, designate on the record that testimony involving "CONFIDENTIAL
MATERIAL" be heid as "CONFIDENTIAL," and the entire deposition transcript will be treated
as "CONFIDENTIAL" until counsel for the producing party receives a transcript of the
deposition and designates specific page and line portions of the testimony. In the event the
producing party's counsel during the deposition does not designate on the record that testimony
involving "CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL" be held as "CONFIDENTIAL," the producing party
does not waive its right to designate the deposition testimony or any parts thereof as
"CONFIDENTIAL" upon receipt of the deposition transcript. After receipt of the final
deposition transcript, the producing party shall identify by page and line the portion of the

./'

- 4material that the producing party intends to designate as "CONFIDENTIAL" in a written letter
served to all counsel of record within 30 days after the producing party's receipt of the written
deposition transcript from the court reporter. Only the portions of the deposition transcript
designated by the producing party during this time period shall remain "CONFIDENTIAL." Any
party challenging the "CONFIDENTIAL" designations of the deposition transcripts shall inform
the producing party of those specific challenges in writing within 20 day of receiving the
designations. The producing party shall have 20 days from receipt of the written challenges to
move for an appropriate order regarding the confidentiality of all or portions of the transcript.
The parties stipulate that the court reporter or videographer for any such depositions, who will be
given a copy of this Protective Order, and will execute an acknowledgement thereof, shall not
disclose to anyone (other than the COVERED PERSONS asdefmed in Section I. H below) any
deposition testimony or exhibits in this lawsuit.
H.

When used in this Protective Order, the term "COVERED PERSONS" includes

only the following:
(1) the Court and all Court personnel;

(2) the named parties in this litigation;
(3) retained counsel for all parties in this litigation, including members of counsel's legal
or support staff (e.g., in-house investigators, secretaries, legal assistants, paralegals and
law clerks), to the extent reasonably necessary for such persons to render assistance in
this litigation;
(4) witnesses and the jury in this case, and
(5) non-attorney experts retained or consulted by counsel for any party to assist in the
preparation, prosecution, or evaluation of this litigation, provided that no disclosure shall

-5be made to any expert or consultant who is then currently employed by a competitor of a
party; with regard to this subsection, Defendant has agreed that the entities shown in the
attached Exhibit B comprises the list of "competitors" as that term is used above. In the
event Plaintiff desires to share confidential information with an expert or consultant then
currently employed with a competitor as listed in Exhibit B, counsel for Plaintiff shall not
do so prior to obtaining an order from the Court addressing that issue. The parties agree
that to the extent said process results in a need to extend any deadline for designation of
experts, the parties will cooperate in good faith to agree to and/or obtain said extension
from the Court.
II.
This Protective Order is to facilitate the exchange of records and information in
discovery. It governs disclosures to third persons or disclosure of records for discovery motions
and discovery proceedings. Nothing in this Protective Order shall be deemed to preclude any
parties' right to oppose discovery on grounds not addressed under the terms of this Protective
Order, or to object on any ground to the admission of any CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL into
evidence at trial. Each party bears the burden of raising and/or meeting any assertions of
privilege or work-product protection pursuant to the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure and
applicable case law separate and apart from the issues of confidentiality addressed in this Order.

III.
Absent a further order of the Court, those documents marked as "CONFIDENTIAL
MATERIAL," as described in Sections I. F and I. G, shall not be used for any purpose other than
the prosecution or defense of this captioned action, and shall. not be shown, disseminated or
disclosed in any manner to anyone other than COVERED PERSONS as defined in Section I. H

- 6-

without the prior written agreement of the producing party or by order of the Court after due
notice to the producing party.

IV.
Before

showing

or

divulging

any

"CONFIDENTIAL

MATERIAL"

or

"CONFIDENTIAL" information to any COVERED PERSON other than the Court and Court
personnel, counsel shall first obtain from each such person a signed ''WRITTEN ASSURANCE"
in the form attached hereto as Exhibit "A." Counsel shall maintain a list of all such recipients of
"CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL" to whom this paragraph applies and the original of every
"WRITTEN ASSURANCE" required pursuant to this paragraph. At the conclusion of the
litigation, the parties shall forward to counsel for the producing party each and every signed
"WRITTEN ASSURANCE" and a list of all recipients of "CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS";
however, with regard to consultant(s) not identified as expert(s) in this matter, counsel need only
provide a copy

ot the "WRITTEN ASSURANCE" redacted

to remove any reference to the

identity of the consultant(s).

v.
A.

If any "CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL" is filed with this Court; including any

pleading incorporating "CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL," the portion of such filing containing
"CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL" shall be filed in a sealed envelope on which the following
legend shall prominently appear:
JAMES E. VARNELL v. BRIDGESTONE AMERICAS TIRE OPERATIONS,
LLC;
CONFIDENTIAL - This envelope contains documents or other material filed by the
parties in this matter. It shall not be opened nor the contents thereof displayed or revealed
except by the Order of this Court.

B.

"CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL" may be introduced into evidence, if otherwise

admissible, provided that it may only be done so during a hearing or trial when counsel for the

- 7.

.

.

producing party is present, and subject to the producing party's right to seek in-camera treatment
of such documents. Further, the Court may take such steps as it deems reasonably necessary to
preserve the confidentiality of the documents or information.
C.

All writings submitted to or filed with the Court in connection with any pre-trial

proceeding that contain, set forth, summarize or otherwise disclose "CONFIDENTIAL
MATERIAL" shall be under seal in accordance with Section V .A, and such documents shall not
be publicly available, except by further order of this Court.
D.

If any party or person who has obtained "CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL" under

the terms of this Protective Order receives a subpoena or other legal process commanding the
production of ariy such "CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL" (the "Subpoena"), such party or person
shall promptly notify counsel for the producing party of the service of the Subpoena. The party
or person receiving the Subpoena shall not produce any "CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL" in
response to the Subpoena without either the prior written consent of counsel for the producing
party, or an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

VI.
Certain parties may produce large volumes of materials in discovery in this matter,
including collections of materials in the form of paper or electronic documents, increasing the
likelihood. that information protected from discovery by certain privileges or immunities, or
"CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL" not marked as such, may be produced inadvertently.
Therefore, the following provisions shall apply to the production of information in this case:
·A.

Inadvertent production of documents subject to the work-product doctrine; the

attorney-client privilege, the trade secret and proprietary business information privilege, or other
legal privilege, rule or doctrine protecting information from discovery shall not constitute a
waiver of the immunity or privilege either for the inadvertently produced document or its subject

-8matter (so-called "subject matter waiver"), provided that the producing party shall notify the
receiving party in writing of such inadvertent production promptly upon becoming aware of it.
B.

If reasonably prompt notification is made, the receiving parties must use

reasonable efforts to retrieve and destroy or retrieve and return to the designating party all copies
of the documents lacking the confidentiality designation. However, nothing in this paragraph
precludes any receiving party from challenging the new confidentiality designation of these
documents pursuant to the procedure set forth in Paragraph G of this Order. No use shall be
made of such inadvertently produced documents during discovery or at trial nor shall they be
disclosed to anyone who was not given access to them before· the request to return and destroy
them, pending further order of the Court.
C.

If any party contends that the notification of inadvertent production was not

"reasonably prompt," it shall notify the producing party in writing, and will make no further use
of such documents pending a resolution of their status by the Court. It shall be the burden of the
producing party to move for a protective order regarding the inadvertent production, and to
demonstrate both that the production was inadvertent, that reasonable diligence was exercised to
identify the inadvertently produced information, and that notification was made with reasonable
promptness after discovering the inadvertent production.
D.

The party returning or destroying such documents may move the Court for an

order compelling production of the material, but such motion shall not assert the fact or
circumstances ofthe inadvertent production as a ground for entering such an order.
E.

Inadvertent failure to designate produced materials as CONFIDENTIAL pursuant

to the terms of Section I above shall not constitute a waiver of the right to designate such

- 9-

materials CONFIDENTIAL provided that the producing party shall notify the receiving party of
such inadvertent failure to designate promptly upon becoming aware of it.
F.

If reasonable notification is made of such failure to designate, such inadvertently

non-designated documents and all copies thereof, shall be returned to the producing party or
destroyed and such material shall be deleted from any litigation-support file or database. No use
shall be made of such non-designated documents during discovery or at trial without the
appropriate "CONFIDENTIAL" markings, nor shall they be disclosed to anyone who was not
given access to them before the request to return or destroy.

G.

Any inadvertently produced document or documents provided to the Court

pursuant to this Section VI shall not be considered a "court record".

H.

This Order shall not apply to the disclosure of confidential material or the

information contained therein at the time of trial, through the receipt of confidential material into
evidence or through the testimony of witnesses. These issues may be taken up as a separate
matter upon the motion of any of the parties, who shall not be prejudiced in any such motion by
any of the provisions of this Order.

VII.
Within 90 days after the final disposition of this lawsuit, by settlement, trial or appeal,
each party having designated materials as confidential shall provide, in writing, to each party to
which the confidential materials have been provided, a list or inventory of confidential materials
the designating party wishes returned or destroyed. The list or inventory shall enumerate what
specific confidential materials, by Bates number or other identifying designation, are to be
destroyed or returned to the· designating party. Within thirty days of receipt of the list or
inventory, each party shall retrieve all copies of materials designated "CONFIDENTIAL" from
his or its own files, and from experts or other persons to whom he or it has provided such

·,•''

- 10-

materials consistent with this Order, and shall .do one of the following: (1) return to the
designating party all such Designated Materials, including all copies thereof, produced by such
designating party during· this action; or (2) confirm in writing to the designating party that all
such Designated Materials produced by such other party during this action have been destroyed.
All material protected by this Order that has been placed in any computer database, hard drive, or
disk shall be deleted or

main~ined

as confidential, as described above, and any documents

listing or summarizing information protected by this Order shall be ·destroyed or maintained as
confidential within the same period. .

VIII.
In the event counsel for any party, in good faith, disputes the designation of any
document as "CONFIDENTIAL," he or she shall notify counsel for the producing party in
writing. The producing party shall seasonably apply to the Court for a determination that the
document is or is not protected pursuant to this Protective Order. Until a final determination by
the Court, any disputed document will be treated as CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL pursuant to
this Protective Order. Nothing in this Protective Order shall be construed to alter or shift the
burdens of production and persuasion ("the burden of proof'). as they apply to the assertion of
privileges or exemptions from public disclosure or any claim or affirmative defense in this
matter.
IX.

A.

This Protective Order shall not preclude the parties from exercising any rights or

raising any objections otherwise available to them under the rules of discovery and evidence.
Nothing contained in this Protective Order shall in any manner change, alter or modify any of the
rights of the producing party or any other party under any other orders issued by any other courts

- 11-

concerning the protection of CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS and CONFIDENTIAL
information. Nothing in this Protective Order shall limit the rights of parties to apply for further
protective orders or for modification ofthe terms of this Protective Order.
B.

Nothing herein shall be construed to preclude or limit the presence of any

individual at any proceedings in or the trial of this action.
C.

This Protective Order may not be waived, modified, abandoned or terminated, in

whole or in part, except by an instrument in writing signed by the parties, or by Order of the.
issuing

Court~

If any provision of this Protective Order shall be held invalid for any reason

whatsoever, the remaining provisions shall not be affected thereby.
D.

This Protective Order shall be binding upon the parties hereto, their attorneys, and

upon the parties' and their attorneys' successors, executors, personal representatives,
administrators, heirs, legal representatives, assigns, subsidiaries, divisions, employees, agents,
independent contractors, or other persons or organizations over which they have control.

X.
At the conclusion of this lawsuit, the Court shall retain jurisdiction of this lawsuit for the
enforcement of this Protective Order.

SO ORDERED, the 14th day of October 2016.

Robert B. Jones, Jr.
United States Magistrate Judge

- 12 -

CONSENTED TO:

~

Thomas . e on
NC State Bar No.: 16669
Carmaletta Henson
NC State Bar No.: 26494
Attorneys for Plaintiff

- 13CONSENTED TO:

'

. rf-T

0~&\ rY\ _ OwLt..-j \Mi)f)

(.4\

~

David M. Duke
NC State Bar No.: 12388
Michael Rainey
NC State Bar No.: 37009
Young Moore & Henderson PA
Attorneys for Defendant Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC

, .}

- 14CONSENTED TO:

~YL~

I

J. Matthew Little
NC State Bar No.: 20032
Rebecca R. Thornton
NC State Bar No.: 40008
Attorneys for Attorneys for
Defendant Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC

- 15EXHIBIT "A"
LIMITED SPECIAL APPEARANCE AND AGREEMENT FOR
ACCESS TO CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL
I hereby acknowledge and affirm that I rui.ve read the terms and conditions of the
Protective Order dated _ _ _ _ _ _ and agreed to by the parties ("Protective Order"} in the
action titled JAMES E. VARNELL v. BRIDGESTONE AMERICAS TIRE OPERATIONS,
LLC. I understand the terms of the Protective Order and under oath consent to be bound by such
terms as a condition to being provided access to the CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS furnished
by the parties in this action. Further, by executing this Agreement, I hereby consent to the
jurisdiction of the above-captioned Court or any Court of competent jurisdiction for the special
and limited purpose of enforcing the terms of the Protective Order.
I recognize that all civil remedies for breach of this Agreement are specifically reserved

by the producing parties in this action and are not waived by the disclosure provided for herein.
Further, in the event of the breach of this Agreement, I recognize that the producing parties may
pursue all civil remedies available to them as third-party beneficiaries of this Agreement.

Name

Date

Firm

Telephone Number

Street Address
State & Zip Code
NORTH CAROLINA
_ _ _ _ COUNTY
, 2016,
Personally appeared before me this
day of
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, who·, being first duly sworn, acknowledged the execution of the
foregoing agreement for the purposes and considerations therein expressed.

Notary Public

My Commission Expires
.EXHIBIT

I

A

--------~·~---·

I Country

-----r-----

of origin.

Aeolus Tyre Co., Ltd.

Year
founded

··china

Company

1965

liE:§ United
States

roducts

---Allianc e Tire Company Ltd.Pl

Yokostone Tyres

2008

AKA

-

,-;;-, Israel
1950
--------------------------- ~·
!!!§£ United
1989
American Transportation Products, LLCl21
States
------------------·-···--·1---·

American Transportation

--·-------! - - - - · -

-·

Goldstone, Yazd Tire

1963

Cobra

1991

Birla Tyre

·:Q India

1981

TVS TYRES (TVS Eurogrip)

-:=Iran

fBiria Tyresl7J

1985

~India

~s~gkok Metropolis Motor Co., Ltd,l6J

ATF, FARMKING, EARTHKING

Thailand

Artawheel Tire Industrial Complexf l

1993

=:Iran

5

1972

Apollo, Apollo Tyres South Africa
(formerly Dunlop South
Africa! Brand name rights sold to
Sumitomo Rubber), Kaizen,
Maloya, Regal, Vredestein

=::Cindia

4

IAsianTire Factory Ltd.r 1

1993

Barez

1-·

TVSTy resf&J
9
Barez Industrial Groupl 1
Belshin a[IO]

Alliance

:;::: India

Apollo Tyres Ltd.Pl

Notes

Aeolus

a: India --.1993

ontinental Limited

·--------

Brands and subsidiaries

------

•

-

Bridgestone Corporation[IIJ[I

i •: Japan

2 ][ 13 l

Bridgestone Sabanci Tire Manufacturing
ding Incl 14l

----------------·

CTiresf!SJ

••

States

·naf17J
Casum1
CEAT Ltd[ I&]

-----------------·

a

Vietnam

::;:rndia
19

Cheng Shin Rubber Ind. Co., Ltd.l l
..____

1931

131 Turkey 1974

~United
·------~-'

--

--

Portugal

Companies, Inc.f 161

__

Belarus 1965

Belshina
Bridgestone, Firestone, Fuzion,
Seiberling (Latin America),
Uniroyal (Australia), Dayton,
Supercat (Australia and New
Zealand), Fireforce (South Africa)

- - - - · - - - - - - - - - - - - --------

Bridgestone (Europe and Middle
East), Lassa
'--·---

1967

CAMAC

----- f--·
1917
1976
1958

-----

Carlisle Transportation Products
Casumina, Euromina
·-- ! - - · - - - ·- - - - - ·
CEAT

liil Taiwan 1967

Cheng Shin, Maxxis

!IJIIIII!!.

1871

Continental, Barum, Euzkadi,
General Tire, Gislaved, Mabor,
Matador, PointS, Semperit, Sime
Tyres, Viking, Uniroyal (Europe),
Sportiva, Dunlop (Malaysia, .
Singapore and Brunei),
Ameri*Steel, ContiRe, ContiTread

1914

Avon, Cooper, Dean, Eldorado,
Mastercraft, Mentor (new brand
introduced in spring 2012),
Starfire, Definity, Roadmaster,
Mickey Thompson, Dick Cepek,
~gshan, Austone, Fortune,
ules and lronman.

--------~

Continental Aal2o][2IJ[22J

Germany

·-------------Cooper Tiresl2JJ[241

--------------

~United

States

J
EXHIBIT
t.

I

0
P

----·-------

~

·----··

Country
of origin

Company

Year
founded

a

g Rubber Company£251

Vietnam

Brands and subsidiaries

1993

--

Notes

DRC

,_______
f------

Dena
,__ Tire And Rubber Manufacturing Companyi26J

=:rran

1954[Z?)

Dena Tire

Diamond Tyres Limited[ZBJ

'1!1

1968

Mohawk, Diamond

Pakistan

1-·

!!!:a United
Kingdom

DMACKI 291

DMACK

-------- '---

·-

·~United

Douglas Tires

1990

States

---·----~·~~----~-

--::r:. India

East Bay Tire Co.r301
·-1---

1967

Ralco, Raison - Two Wheeler,
Three Wheeler, ADV, FARM,
ULT, LCV Tyres

_.United
States

--

!--------·

1946

Dawg Pound Tires

1940

FATE

-·

;~·

FATE[liJ

Argentina

•Taiwan 1954

Fullrun Tyre

2003

Fullrun, Fullway, Adereneza,
Nature, Autogrip, Versatyre

J!J

---

Federal, Hero

.China

-

1963

General

--·---------General Tyre & Rubber Company of Pakistan
Limited£331

Pakistan

----------··
Giti£341

Singapore

-----------·

----

----

Chaoyang, CYT, Goodride,
Westlake, Y artu

-- -------·--

Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company

.China

---

1--·

D~bica,£3 9 1 Douglas, Dunlop (North
America, Europe, Australia and
.New Zealand), Fierce, Fulda,
Goodyear, Kelly-Springfield, Sava,
Pneumant Tires (Pneumant Reifen
GmbHi401

1958

States

-

·:e:: South

1941

Aurora, Hankook; Kingstar,
Laufenn

2003

F1yingHawk

1957

Hoosier

II France

1957

Hutchinson Tires

1926

IRCTire

1973

Interstate Tires

Korea

1------

;1!1

Haq Tyres & Rubber Industriesl441

Pakistan
~United

Hoosier Racing Tire1451

States

r------

Hutchinson SNc£46J

-------

! •)Japan

Tirel4 '1[42l[43 l

-

-·

Inoue Rubber Co., Ltd.

1-------

.--

-

Interstate Tire & Rubber Company1471
-~---

J. K. Organisation£481

-------------

Netherlands

--

49

Kenda Rubber Industrial Companyl l
Kesoram Industries Ltd.£501
..

Giti Tire,l35l GT Radial,£3 61
Primewell,[371 Runway, Dextero,
Hualin, Greatwall, Roadpro

1898

J!§.S United

Goodyear!38J

Hankook

-

--·~

-

Douglas Tires.

-·---

...

Raison India Limited

Federal Corporationl321

Manufactured
at Goodyear/
Kelly
production
plants.

-

~India

-

~.Taiwan

-

·:!:India·

I

-

JK Tyres, Tornel
1962

Kenda
Birla

--

--. -··----------·------

Country
of origin
South
Korea

Company
Kumho

1:•:!

Tires[Sl][S2J

==·
Denmark

Lego Group[SJJ

1-----------------

~United

Lucas Classic Tires
(http://www.lucasclassictires.com/)
··-·-~--------Marangoni S.p.A[54l

States

II Italy

Year
founded

Brands and subsidiaries

1960

Notes

Admiral, Marshal, Kumho, Zetum
World's largest
manufacturer
of tires by
number of
units (318
million in

2011).

1932

Manufactures
toy tires for its
building block
set. Began tire
production in
1962.[531

1957

Bedford, Custom Classic; Lucas,
Royalton, Wards Riverside

1945

Marangoni (tyres), Eltor (industrial
tyres)

-

Michelin Group[55][56J[57][5BJ[59J

1.1 France 1889

BFGoodrich, Kleber, Korrnoran,
Michelin, Orium, Riken, Taunis,
Uniroyal (North America), Tigar
Tyres, Stri~I, Sebring

Mitas, a. s.C601

. .'Czech
Republic

f-------

Mitas, Continental (agricultural
tyres)

1933

·-------·--q

MRF

MRF Tyres£61 1

%India

--Nankang Rubber

ill Taiwan 1959

-

Nexen Tirel64J[6SJ
Nokian Tyres Group(661

}------------.--

Nankang, Sonar, Star Performer
TNG

, ~·:;South
Korea

1942

Nexen, Roadstone, Capital

-~•Finland

·---------

1898

Nokian, Nordman

2003

Radar Tires, Goodride(tires), Corsa
(tires), RoadLux (tires)

~
I

Omni United Pte Ltd.£67 !
Panaracer

--

Singapore

Panther Tyresl681
Pirelli[69][70J

-

1983
1872

Agom, Courier, Metzeler, Pirelli, ·
Forrnula£71 1

------------------·
72
Rosava[ J

~Rubena, a. s.r 1
73

--

Panther

1!11 Turkey 1976

-

Panaracer

Petlas, Starmaxx

1860
1982

Pro-Line

1972

Rosava

, .... Czech 11908
Republic

Rubena

--

Petroshina ·

Russia
~United

Pro-Line

r

1953

1 Jltaly

Petroshina JSC

·-

: • .Japan
Pakistan

1-·

!--·------------·

------

"1!1

-----------------

Pet! as

Madras Rubber Factory Ltd
Established- 1954 India BrandsMRF

1946

-

Tire[62][631

-···

Subsidiary of
CGS Holding,
a. s.

States
~Ukraine

-

T--

-----·-----

_________ ______________ -----------.,

Country
of origin

Company

-------------------~------,

Year
founded

Brands and ·subsidiaries

Notes

---------------------~--~---}--------·~----------------------~~-~-~-1

Subsidiary of
CGS Holding,
a. s.

~Germany

RalfBohle

1922

Schwalbe·

----------------------1------..:~--l----i------·-------+-------

Shandong Hengfeng Rubber & Plastic Co., Ltd.f141 •

China

1995

Cachland Tires, Hengfeng Tires,
Hifly Tires, Ovation Tires, Sunfull
Tires

----------·-------'--------------1-------l------1-------------------~ ~------j

a

Saovang Rubber Company

Vietnam

1960

Saovang

Vietnam's first
rubber
manufacturing
company. __

AGI

The AGI tire
brand was
acquired in
2013. AGI
itself was
founded back
in 1994.f771

1---------------------1~---~-----

Scantyre ABI7SJI761

::Sweden 2004

-------------·-----·-----------------.J..---~--1------l-------·--·--------

:[!I
Pakistan

Servis Tyres

1970

-----

Servis

-------------------------i--------1-----·- ·--------------------j-------......J
Shanghai T:!_u_ay_i_(G_ro_u_p)

C':_~P_an_y:_l_7_8_1_ _ _ _-li-• C_h_in_a_-1~---I--D-o_u_b_Ie_C_o_in_,_W_arr_I_·o_r_ _ _ _+------,
__

...
..

:

STARCOI79l

Denmark

1962

Tusker

-----------+-----4--------l------------------l---------~

Sumitomo Rubber Industriesf801(8llf821

Titan Tire Corporation183l

i •: Japan

1909

Dunlop (Japan, Latin America,
Asia and Africa), Falken,
Goodyear (Japan), Sumitomo,
Multi-Mile, Sigma, Cordovan,
Vanderbilt, Ohtsu

----------~-----i-------+----'----------1------l
~United
Continental (farm tires), Goodyear

1890

States
--------------------·-·-·------------------+------- (farm tires),:,__________-+·------'
;________;_ Titan
84

.!_oyo 2'~~:-~~-~~:r Com~-~~__1- - - Trelleborg AB(BSJ

o ·Japan I-1_9_4_3___+N-itt_o~,_s_n_ver_s_to_n_e;,.'.T--..:oy:_o_·_____ - - - - - - __

;

:c Sweden

1905

Trelleborg

--------------------------+-------4--------~--------------~---------1----------l
86

Triangle Group1 l

•

China

·-------------1----iiiiiiii

Vee Rubber Groupl87J

Thailand

1976

Triangle Group, Diamond back

1977

Vee Rubber, NIKA, VEENTO

·--------'·------·------l-----·---1-----------------·--t----.. - -

.-s United
States

1914

Vittoria

I I

1953

Vittoria, Geax

Yokohama Rubber CompanyrssJ

: • ;Japan

1910

Mohawk, Yokohama

Vogue Tyre and Rubber Co.

·------------------·----- ------l-------1------------------ - - - - - · - · - f - - - - - - 1
Italy

· - - - - - - - - - - -.. ----·--------------~------1------- --------------------t------

---------------------

-----!--

Z Tyres

~United

ZenisesfB9J

Kingdom

2014

----------+----1

(http://www.ztyre.com/index.php),
T Tyres, Westlake, Triangle, iLink,
Kapsen, Ardent

----------------j----~-----~~~------------~-------

.China

SD International
Shandong Zhongyi Rubber Co.,L TD.

2002

Maxtrek,Basoon,Kapsen.zeta
[*),Pace[*],Toledo[*]

•

2004

Joy road,

China

------t-==----

-~~----~-----~

Haohua,
2011
Goalstar,Lanvigator,Aplus
'--------------------·-------··---'--------- --------''-----..:........
SHANDONG HAOHUA Tire CO., LTD

ill China

[*)Private
Brands

- 15 EXHIBIT "A"
LIMITED SPECIAL APPEARANCE AND AGREEMENT FOR
ACCESS TO CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL
I hereby acknowledge and affinn that I have read the tenns and conditions of the
Protective Order dated _ _ _ _ _ _ and agreed to by the parties ("Protective Order") in the
action titled JAMES E. VARNELL v. BRIDGESTONE AMERICAS TIRE OPERATIONS.
LLC. I understand the tenns of the Protective Order and under oath consent to be bound by such
tenns as a condition to being provided access to the CONFIDENTIAL MATERIALS furnished
by the parties in this action. Further, by executing this Agreement, I hereby consent to the
jurisdiction of the above-captioned Court or any Court of competent jurisdiction for the special
and limited purpose of enforcing the tenns of the Protective Order.
I recognize that all civil remedies for breach of this Agreement are specifically reserved
by the producing parties in this action and are not waived by the disclosure provided for herein.
Further, in the event of the breach of this Agreement, I recognize that the producing parties may
pursue all civil remedies available to them as third-party beneficiaries of this Agreement.

Date

Name

Finn

. Telephone Number

Street Address
State & Zip Code
NORTH CAROLINA

- - - - - COUNTY
Personally

appeared before me this
day of
2016;
who, being first duly sworn, acknowledged the execution· of the
foregoing agreement for the purposes and considerations therein expressed.

Notary Public

My Commission Expires