Opinion

Court: District Court, C.D. California
Filed: Oct 9, 2025
Cited by: 0 cases

The opinion

1 Mmoohhaammmmaadd@ Nm. Knkhlaanw, yEesrqs.. c(oSmB No. 297729)

2 Nishita Patel, Esq. (SB No. 189039)

nishita@mnklawyers.com

Shakti J. Vadgama, Esq. (SB No. 304034)

4 shakti@mnklawyers.com

MNK LAW, APC

18000 Studebaker Rd., Suite 305

6 Cerritos, California 90703

Tel.: (562) 362-6437

Fax: (562) 362-6605

Attorneys for Plaintiff

MINDTICKLE, INC.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

Case No. 2:25-cv- 02210-FMO-SKx

15 MINDTICKLE, INC., a Delaware

16 Corporation, STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

ORDER

17 Plaintiff,

18 v.

19 Studio Enterprise, LLC, a Delaware [Discovery Document: Referred to

20 Limited Liability Company; South Magistrate Judge Steve Kim]

University Savannah, LLC, a Georgia

21 Limited Liability Company; and DOES

22 1-10, inclusive,

Defendants.

1 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,

3 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public

4 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may

5 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to

6 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this

7 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to

8 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends

9 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment

10 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth

11 in Section 12.3 (Filing Protected Material), below, that this Stipulated Protective

12 Order does not entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local

13 Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will

14 be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.

16 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

17 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists, and

18 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or

19 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and

20 from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such

21 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other

22 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding

23 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or

24 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third

25 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be

26 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,

27 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of

28 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of

1 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep

2 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of

3 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling

4 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such

5 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information

6 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so

7 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,

8 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public

9 record of this case.

11 2. DEFINITIONS

12 2.1 Action: this pending federal law suit, Mindtickle, Inc. v. Studio

13 Enterprise, LLC, et al., CACD Case No. 2:25-cv- 02210-FMO-SKx.

14 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the

15 designation of information or items under this Order.

16 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of

17 how it is generated, stored, or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for

18 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in

19 the Good Cause Statement.

20 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as

21 their support staff).

22 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information

23 or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as

24 “CONFIDENTIAL.”

25 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless

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

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

28 or generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

1 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

2 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as

3 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.

4 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.

5 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside

6 counsel.

7 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association,

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

9 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a

10 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and

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

12 which has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.

13 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

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

15 support staffs).

16 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

17 Discovery Material in this Action.

18 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation

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

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

21 and their employees and subcontractors.

22 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

23 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

24 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery

25 Material from a Producing Party.

27 3. SCOPE

28 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only

1 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or

2 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or

3 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or

4 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

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

6 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.

8 4. DURATION

9 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as

10 confidential or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will

11 be presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless

12 compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are

13 made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of

14 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause”

15 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”

16 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the

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

19 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

20 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

21 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under

22 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that

23 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for

24 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written

25 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,

26 items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept

27 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.

28 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

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

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

3 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating

4 Party to sanctions.

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

6 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must

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

8 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

9 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of Section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise

10 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection

11 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or

12 produced.

13 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

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

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

16 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend

17 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that

18 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page

19 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected

20 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).

21 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for

22 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has

23 indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. During the

24 inspection and before the designation, all of the material made available for

25 inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has

26 identified the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must

27 determine which documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this

28 Order. Then, before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must

1 affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material.

2 If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the

3 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making

4 appropriate markings in the margins).

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

6 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the

7 deposition all protected testimony.

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

9 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on

10 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the

11 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information

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

13 protected portion(s).

14 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent

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

16 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.

17 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable

18 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this

19 Order.

21 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

22 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

23 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s

24 Scheduling Order.

25 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party Shall initiate the dispute

26 resolution process under Civil Local Rule 37-1 et seq.

27 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be

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

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

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

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

4 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it

5 is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the

6 challenge.

8 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

9 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that

10 is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with

11 this Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action.

12 Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and

13 under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been

14 terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of Section 13 below

15 (FINAL DISPOSITION).

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

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

18 persons authorized under this Order.

19 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless

20 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a

21 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated

22 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

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

24 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably

25 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;

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

27 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;

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

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

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

3 (d) the Court and its personnel;

4 (e) court reporters and their staff;

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

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

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

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

9 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;

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

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

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

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

14 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise

15 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed

16 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may

17 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except

18 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and

19 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,

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

22 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED

23 IN OTHER LITIGATION

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

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

26 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

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

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

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

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

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

4 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and

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

6 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.

7 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with

8 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this

9 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the

10 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s

11 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking

12 protection in that court of its confidential material, and nothing in these provisions

13 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action

14 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.

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

17 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

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

19 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information

20 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the

21 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be

22 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.

23 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to

24 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is

25 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s

26 confidential information, then the Party shall:

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

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

1 with a Non-Party;

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

3 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably

4 specific description of the information requested; and

5 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-

6 Party, if requested.

7 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this Court within

8 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party

9 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery

10 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall

11 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the

12 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court.

13 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and

14 expense of seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material.

16 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

18 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this

19 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in

20 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts

21 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person

22 or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this

23 Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and

24 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

26 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

27 PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

1 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,

2 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil

3 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever

4 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production

5 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and

6 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a

7 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work

8 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated

9 protective order submitted to the Court.

11 12. MISCELLANEOUS

12 12.1 Right to Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person

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

14 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

15 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to

16 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this

17 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any

18 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.

19 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

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

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

22 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material

23 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information

24 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

26 13. FINAL DISPOSITION

27 Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal of all claims

28 and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein

1 after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or

2 reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing any motions or

3 applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law. After the final

4 disposition of this Action, within 60 days of a written request by the Designating

5 Party, each Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing

6 Party or destroy such material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material”

7 includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format

8 reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected

9 Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written

10 certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the

11 Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where

12 appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed; and (2)

13 affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,

14 summaries, or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected

15 Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival

16 copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal

17 memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney

18 work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such materials

19 contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute

20 Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4

21 (DURATION).

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1 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate

2 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or

3 monetary sanctions.

5 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

Dated: October 9, 2025 Respectfully submitted,

MNK LAW, APC

9 /s/ NISHITA PATEL

_______________________

Nishita Patel, Esq.

Attorneys for Plaintiff

MINDTICKLE, INC.

Dated: October 9, 2025 Respectfully submitted,

16 THOMPSON COBURN LLP

/s/ TRES CLEVELAND

_______________________

18 Tres Cleveland, Esq.

Evan P. Moltz, Esq.

20 Attorneys for Defendants

Studio Enterprise, LLC and

South University Savannah, LLC

1 Filer’s Attestation:

2 Pursuant to Local Rule 5-4.3.4(a)(2), the filer hereby attests that all other

signatories listed, and on whose behalf the filing is submitted, concur in the filing’s

content and have authorized the filing.

Dated: October 9, 2025 MNK LAW, APC

/s/ NISHITA PATEL

_______________________

10 Nishita Patel, Esq.

Attorneys for Plaintiff

FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

3| DATED: October 9, 2025

6 | Honorable Steve Kim

United States Magistrate Judge

1 EXHIBIT A

2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

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

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

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

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

8 on [__________] in the case of Mindtickle, Inc. v. Studio Enterprise, LLC, et al.,

9 Case No. 2:25-cv- 02210-FMO-SKx. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all

10 the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, and I understand and acknowledge that

11 failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of

12 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information

13 or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity

14 except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.

15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court

16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this

17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after

18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint ____________________________

19 [print or type full name] of _______________________________________ [print

20 or type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of

21 process in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of

22 this Stipulated Protective Order.

23 Date: ______________________________________

24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________

26 Printed name: _______________________________

28 Signature: __________________________________

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