Opinion

Lumen21, Inc. v. Lumen Technologies, Inc.

Court: District Court, C.D. California
Filed: Jul 31, 2025
Cited by: 0 cases
Authority: More cited than 38.5%

even 7 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing

How later courts described this case

even 7 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10 LUMEN 21, INC., a Nevada ) Case No. 8:25-cv-00510-DOC-JDE

)

11 corporation, )

Plaintiff, ) STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

12 v. ) ) ORDER

13 LUMEN TECHNOLOGIES, INC., a )

)

Louisiana corporation, and

14 )

CENTURYLINK )

15 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC, a )

)

16 Delaware limited liability company, )

Defendants. )

Based on the Parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 39) and for good cause shown, the

Court finds and orders as follows.

1. 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 pursuing this litigation may be

warranted. his 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.

1 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

2 This action is likely to involve trade secrets and other valuable research,

3 development, commercial, financial, and/or proprietary information for which

4 special protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than

5 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 for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated

without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public

22 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record of

23 this case.

24 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE

25 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this

26 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information

27 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed

28 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court

1 to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right

2 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-

3 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See

4 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006),

5 Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-

Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even

stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of

good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal

justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to

file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material

as CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES

ONLY does not— without the submission of competent evidence by declaration,

establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential,

privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.

Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial,

then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and

the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be

protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir.

2010). For each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed

or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling

22 reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing

23 order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents

24 under seal must be provided by declaration.

25 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable

26 in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be

27 redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing,

28 omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the

1 document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in

2 their entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.

3 4. DEFINITIONS

4 4.1 Action: Lumen21, Inc. v. Lumen Technologies, Inc. et al., No. 8:25-

5 cv-00510-DOC-JDE.

4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the

designation of information or items under this Order.

4.3 “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.

4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as

their support staff).

4.5 Designated House Counsel: House Counsel who may access

“HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” information.

4.5 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 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES

ONLY.”

4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless

22 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,

23 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced

24 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.

25 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

26 pertinent to the litigation who (1) has been retained by a Party or its counsel to

27 serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action, (2) is not a past or

1 current employee of a Party, and (3) at the time of retention, is not anticipated to

2 become an employee of a Party.

3 4.8 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”

4 Information or Items: extremely sensitive “Confidential Information or Items,”

5 disclosure of which to another Party or Non-Party would create a substantial risk of

serious harm that could not be avoided by less restrictive means.

4.9 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.

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

other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.

4.11 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a

party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have

appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that

has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.

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

employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their

support staffs).

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

Discovery Material in this Action.

22 4.14 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation

23 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or

24 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)

25 and their employees and subcontractors.

26 4.15 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

27 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL –

1 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.”

2 4.16 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery

3 Material from a Producing Party.

4 5. SCOPE

5 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.

However, the protections conferred by this Order do not cover the following

information: (a) any information that is in the public domain at the time of

disclosure to a Receiving Party or becomes part of the public domain after its

disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of publication not involving a violation

of this Order, including becoming part of the public record through trial or

otherwise; and (b) any information known to the Receiving Party prior to the

disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party after the disclosure from a source

who obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of confidentiality to

the Designating Party.

Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the

trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of

22 Protected Material at trial.

23 6. DURATION

24 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as

25 CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY

26 or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced as an exhibit at

27 trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of the

28 public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual

1 findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial.

2 See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for

3 sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard

4 when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of

5 this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

7.1 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.

Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper

purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to

impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the

Designating Party to sanctions.

If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it

22 designated for protection do not qualify for protection at all or do not qualify for

23 the level of protection initially asserted, that Designating Party must promptly

24 notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.

25 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

26 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material

27 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before

28 the material is disclosed or produced.

1 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

2 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic

3 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial

4 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or

5 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” to each page that

contains protected material. If only a portion 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) and must specify, for each

portion, the level of protection being asserted.

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 “HIGHLY 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 appropriate legend (“CONFIDENTIAL” or

HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS EYES ONLY”) to each page that

contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for

22 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s)

23 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins) and must specify, for each

24 portion, the level of protection being asserted.

25 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party

26 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of

27 the deposition all protected testimony and specify the level of protection being

28 asserted. When it is impractical to identify separately each portion of testimony

1 that is entitled to protection and it appears that substantial portions of the testimony

2 may qualify for protection, the Designating Party may invoke on the record (before

3 the deposition is concluded) a right to have up to 14 days following receipt of the

4 final transcript to identify the specific portions of the testimony as to which

5 protection is sought and to specify the level of protection being asserted. Only

those portions of the testimony that are appropriately designated for protection

within the 14 days shall be covered by the provisions of this Protective Order.

Alternatively, a Designating Party may specify, at the deposition or up to 14 days

afterwards if that period is properly invoked, that the entire transcript shall be

treated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’

EYES ONLY.”

Transcripts containing Protected Material shall have an obvious legend on

the title page that the transcript contains Protected Material, and the title page shall

be followed by a list of all pages (including line numbers as appropriate) that have

been designated as Protected Material and the level of protection being asserted by

the Designating Party. The Designating Party shall inform the court reporter of

these requirements. Any transcript that is prepared before the expiration of a 14-

day period for designation shall be treated during that period as if it had been

designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” in its

entirety unless otherwise agreed. After the expiration of that period, the transcript

22 shall be treated only as actually designated.

23 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary

24 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent

25 place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is

26 stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL –

27 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” If only a portion or portions of the information

28 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify

1 the protected portion(s).

2 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent

3 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive

4 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such

5 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.

8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

8.1. 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.

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

resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.

8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a

joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.

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

the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper

purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other

parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating

Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall

22 continue to afford the material the level of protection to which it is entitled under

23 the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in this Action only for

prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected Material

1 may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions

2 described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party

3 must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).

4 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a

5 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons

authorized under this Order.

9.2 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

and other attorneys of the same firm, 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;

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;

22 (e) court reporters and their staff;

23 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional

24 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have

25 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

26 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or

27 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed, knew, or had permission to

28 access the information;

1 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in

2 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing

3 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2)

4 they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the

5 “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 mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel,

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

9.3 Disclosure of “HIGHLY 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 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’

EYES ONLY” only to:

(a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action

and other attorneys of the same firm, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel

of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this

Action;

22 (b) Designated House Counsel of the Receiving Party to whom it is

23 reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action and who have

24 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

25 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom

26 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the

27 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

28 (d) the court and its personnel;

1 (e) court reporters and their staff;

2 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional

3 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have

4 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

5 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or

a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed, knew, or had permission to

access 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 mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel,

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

10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED

PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

22 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation

23 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as

24 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES

25 ONLY,” that Party must:

26 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification

27 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

28 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or

1 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the

2 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall

3 include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and

4 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be

5 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 “HIGHLY 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.

16 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO

BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

18 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by

19 a Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY

20 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” Such information produced

21 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 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party

2 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality

3 agreement with a Non-Party;

4 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated

5 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.

within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the

Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’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

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.

12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

20 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has

21 disclosed Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized

22 under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a)

23 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” attached hereto as Exhibit A.

1 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR

OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL

3 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain

4 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other

5 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 a

stipulated protective order submitted to the court.

14. MISCELLANEOUS

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

person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.

14.2 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 Order.

22 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

23 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material

24 may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the

25 specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under

26 seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the

27 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

28 / / /

I 15. FINAL DISPOSITION

2 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within

3 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must

4 return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As

> ll used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts,

6 compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the

’ || Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the

8 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

'0 (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

Is are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial,

6 deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition

7 and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert

18 work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival

19 copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to this

29 || Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION).

21 16. VIOLATION

22 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures

23 |{including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.

24 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

25 je de

26 || DATED: July 31, 2025 Lin OG

27 D. EARLY

38 United States Magistrate Judge

1 EXHIBIT A

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

4 I, [print or type full name], of

5 [print or type full address], declare under penalty

6 of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the Protective Order that

7 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California

8 on July 31, 2025, Lumen21, Inc. v. Lumen Techs., Inc. and CenturyLink

9 Communications, LLC, 8:25-cv-00510-DOC-JDE (C.D. Cal.). I agree to comply

10 with and to be bound by all the terms of this Protective Order, and I understand and

11 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and

12 punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in

13 any manner any information or item that is subject to this Protective Order to any

14 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 Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms

of this Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after

termination of this action. I further agree that I will provide a copy of this

Stipulated Protective Order to my employees or contractors to whom disclosure is

reasonably necessary and secure their agreement to be bound by its terms.

Date: ___________________________

City and State where sworn and

signed: ___________________________

Printed name: ___________________________

Signature: ___________________________

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.