Opinion

AKHA LLC v. Pac Dent Inc.

Court: District Court, C.D. California
Filed: May 21, 2024
Cited by: 0 cases
Authority: More cited than 16.5%

distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents 16 produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related 17 documents are part of court record

How later courts described this case

distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents 16 produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related 17 documents are part of court record
even stipulated protective orders require good 24 cause showing

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

2 EA-MMYai lE: . MBUarRc@KEH (aSnBkiNnP: a2t7e6n6tL99aw) .com

E-Mail: AmyB@HankinPatentLaw.com

3 ANOOJ PATEL (SBN: 300297)

E-Mail: Anooj@HankinPatentLaw.com

4 ELODIE BARDON (SBN: 352856)

E-Mail: Elodie@HankinPatentLaw.com

5 HANKIN PATENT LAW,

A Professional Corporation

6 12400 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1265

Los Angeles, CA 90025

7 Tel: (310) 979-3600

Fax: (310) 979-3603

Attorneys for PLAINTIFFS,

AKHA, LLC, and AJK ENGINEERING SERVICES INC.

K. David Crockett, Esq. (SBN: 155,455)

davycrockett@crockett-crockett.com

CROCKETT & CROCKETT, PC

6B Liberty, Suite 145

Aliso Viejo, CA 92656

Phone: 949 588 6171

Fax: 949 588 6172

Attorneys for Defendants

PAC-DENT, INC.

17 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

19 AKHA, LLC, a California Limited CASE No. 8:24-cv-00078-MRA-DFM

Liability Company; AJK

20 ENGINEERING SERVICES INC.,

a South Carolina Corporation,

Plaintiffs STIPULATED PROTECTIVE

22 ORDER

PAC-DENT, INC., a California U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas F.

24 Corporation, McCormick

25 Defendant.

1. PRELIMINARY STATEMENTS

4 A. PURPOSE AND LIMITATIONS

Plaintiffs AKHA, LLC, (“AKHA”) and AJK Engineering Services Inc. (“AJK”)

6 (referred to collectively herein as the “Plaintiffs”), and Defendant Pac-Dent, Inc.

7 (“Pac-Dent” or “Defendant”) (each a “Party,” collectively, the “Parties”) believe that

8 certain information that is or will be encompassed by discovery demands by the

9 Parties involves the production or disclosure of trade secrets, confidential business

10 information, or other proprietary information, for which special protection from

11 public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation

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

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

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

15 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.

18 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

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

valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary

information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for any

purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential and

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

business or financial information, information regarding confidential business

practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial information

(including information implicating privacy rights of third parties), information

27 otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or

28 otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case

2 facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials,

3 to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to

4 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

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

case.

12 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL

The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this

Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information

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

16 the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court to file

17 material under seal.

18 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial

19 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions,

20 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and

21 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors

22 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc.,

23 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders require good

24 cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling reasons with

25 proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with respect to

26 Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The Parties’ mere designation

27 of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY

28 CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY does not—without the submission

2 under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute

3 good cause.

4 Further, if a Party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then

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

6 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See

7 Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each

8 item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under

9 seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking protection must

10 articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for

11 the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application to

12 file documents under seal must be provided by declaration.

13 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in

14 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If

15 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only

16 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall

17 be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety

18 should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.

2. DEFINITIONS

21 2.1. Action: AKHA, LLC, et al., v. Pac-Dent, Inc., 8:24-cv-00078-MRA-

DFM now pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of

California.

24 2.2. Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation

25 of information or items under this Order.

2.3. Designated Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’

EYES ONLY.”

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

3 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good

4 Cause Statement.

5 2.5. “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”

6 Information or Items: extremely sensitive “CONFIDENTIAL” information

7 (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things, the

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

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

2.6. Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and In-House Counsel (as well as

their support staff).

2.7. 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.”

17 2.8. Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of

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

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

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

2.9. Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

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

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

2.10. In-House Counsel: attorneys who are internal employees of a party to this

Action. In-House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other

outside counsel.

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

2.12. Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not internal employees of

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

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

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

2.13. 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).

11 2.14. Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

Discovery Material in this Action.

13 2.15. Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support

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

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

16 and their employees and subcontractors.

2.16. Protected Material: any document, information or material that

constitutes or includes, in whole or in part, confidential or proprietary information or

trade secrets of the Party or a Third Party to whom the Party reasonably believes it

owes an obligation of confidentiality with respect to such document, information or

material.

2.17. Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

from a Producing Party.

3. SCOPE

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

28 Designated Material and/or Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any

2 (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Designated Material and/or

3 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties

4 or their Counsel that might reveal Designated Material and/or Protected Material.

Any use of Designated Material and/or Protected Material at trial shall be

governed by the orders of the trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of

Designated Material and/or Protected Material at trial.

8 4. DURATION

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

CONFIDENTIAL, HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY, or

maintained pursuant to this Protective Order used or introduced as an exhibit at trial

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

including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings

to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana,

447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents

produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related

documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order

18 do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

21 5.1. Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.

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

23 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies

24 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection

25 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications that

26 qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or communications

27 for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of

this Order.

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

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

4 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

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

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

9 5.2. Confidential Material. A Party shall designate documents, information or

10 material as “CONFIDENTIAL” only upon a good faith belief that the documents,

11 information or material contains confidential or proprietary information or trade

12 secrets of the Party or a Third Party to whom the Party reasonably believes it owes an

13 obligation of confidentiality with respect to such documents, information or material.

14 Documents, information or material produced pursuant to any discovery request in

this Action, including but not limited to Protected Material designated as Designated

Material, shall be used by the Parties only in the litigation of this Action and shall not

be used for any other purpose. Any person or entity who obtains access to Designated

Material or the contents thereof pursuant to this Order shall not make any copies,

duplicates, extracts, summaries or descriptions of such Designated Material or any

portion thereof except as may be reasonably necessary in the litigation of this Action.

Any such copies, duplicates, extracts, summaries or descriptions shall be classified

Designated Materials and subject to all of the terms and conditions of this Order.

23 5.3. Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes Only Material. Any party may

24 designate Protected Material as “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEY’S

ONLY” when the producing Party believes in good faith that the Protected Material

is so sensitive that the 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

and therefore, its dissemination deserves even further limitation, including

information that the Designating Party in good faith believes that disclosure will

2 secrets; customer/supplier lists and other highly confidential information regarding

3 customers, dealers and distributors; non-public technical information; confidential

4 financial information; manufacturing and research information; confidential

commercial information regarding technology used to make and/or confirm the

authenticity of the products at issue in the litigation; and/or highly sensitive

information that is not publicly known. Attorneys’ Eyes Only Material, and the

information contained therein, shall be disclosed only as specified in Paragraph 7.3

below unless otherwise agreed or ordered. If disclosure of Attorneys’ Eyes Only

Material is made pursuant to this paragraph, all other provisions in this order with

respect to confidentiality shall also apply.

12 5.4. Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

13 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.4(a) below), or as otherwise

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

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

produced.

17 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

18 (a) For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic

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

20 proceedings), the Producing Party shall affix at a minimum, the word(s)

21 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES

22 ONLY”, placed clearly at the bottom, center of each page of the Protected Material

23 for which such protection is sought. Discovery responses shall not bear the

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

ONLY” legend on the entire document, unless all of the responses contained therein

meet the criteria of being designated as such. Otherwise, the responding party shall

designate for each response the appropriate designation legend. Such designations

shall be made at the time when the discovery response is served, or when the

document or thing, or copy thereof, is provided to the receiving party. If only a

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

3 markings in the margins).

(b) For testimony given in depositions or at a hearing, the wording

5 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES

6 ONLY” shall be placed on the cover page of the transcript (if not already present on

7 the cover page of the transcript when received from the Court Reporter) by each

8 attorney receiving a copy of the transcript after that attorney receives notice of the

9 designation of some or all of that transcript as “CONFIDENTIAL or “HIGHLY

10 CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” and on each page where

11 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES

12 ONLY” testimony or statements are made. Arrangements shall be made with the court

13 reporter taking and transcribing such proceeding to separately bind such portions of

14 the transcript containing information designated as confidential, and to label such

portions appropriately.

16 (c) For video recordings of depositions or hearings, the Parties shall instruct

17 the videographer upon the conclusion of the video-testimony, how to designate the

18 videorecording, or any portion thereof, as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY

19 CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”. All documents, or any portion

20 thereof, made available for inspection (but not yet formally produced to the inspecting

21 party) shall be presumptively deemed to contain “Highly Confidential – Attorneys’

22 Eyes Only” subject to the provisions of this Protective Order, regardless of whether

23 so identified, until copies thereof are formally produced to the inspecting party. Any

24 information, document, or thing that bears both designations must be treated as

“Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes Only.”

26 (d) For information produced in some form other than documentary and for

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

28 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend

2 ONLY.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection, the

3 Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).

(e) All documents, or any portion thereof, made available for inspection (but

5 not yet formally produced to the inspecting party) shall be presumptively deemed to

6 contain “Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes Only” subject to the provisions of

7 this Protective Order, regardless of whether so identified, until copies thereof are

8 formally produced to the inspecting party. Any information, document, or thing that

9 bears both designations must be treated as “Highly Confidential – Attorneys’ Eyes

10 Only.”

5.5. With respect to documents, information or material designated

“CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES

ONLY”, subject to the provisions herein and unless otherwise stated, this Order

governs, without limitation: (a) all documents, electronically stored information,

15 and/or things as defined by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; (b) all trial, pretrial,

16 hearing or deposition testimony, or documents marked as exhibits or for identification

17 in depositions, hearings and trial; (c) pretrial pleadings, exhibits to pleadings and

18 other court filings; (d) affidavits; and (e) stipulations. All copies, reproductions,

19 extracts, digests and complete or partial summaries prepared from any Designated

20 Material shall also be considered Designated Material and treated as such under this

21 Order.

5.6. A designation of Protected Material (i.e., “CONFIDENTIAL” or

“HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”) shall be made as

follows: (i) for testimony at deposition or hearing, such designation shall be made by

25 each party within ten (10) days of receipt of the transcript and (ii) for any other

26 Designated Material, such designation shall be made at the time of production.

27 Access to Designated Material shall be limited in accordance with the terms of this

2 as “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEY’S EYES ONLY”.

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

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

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

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

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

8 Order.

6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

11 Any party may challenge a designation given to any Designated Material at any

12 time by notifying the designating Party in writing of the basis for the dispute,

13 identifying the specific document[s] or thing[s] as to which the designation is disputed

14 and proposing a new designation for such materials. The Parties must make every

attempt to resolve any dispute without court involvement. Any motion regarding

confidentiality designation or for a protective order must include a certification, in the

motion or in a declaration or affidavit, that the movant has engaged in a good faith

meet and confer conference with other affected Parties in an effort to resolve the

dispute without court action. The certification must list the date, manner, and

participants to the conference. A good faith effort to confer requires a face-to-face

meeting or a telephone conference. If the Parties cannot agree, the requesting Party

may apply to the Court for relief. Pending the Court’s determination of the

application, the designation of the designating Party shall be maintained. A Party’s

failure to contest a designation of information as Confidential or Highly Confidential

is not an admission that the information was properly designated as such.

26 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

7.1. Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Designated Material and/or

28 Protected Material that is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party

2 this Action. Such Designated Material and/or Protected Material may be disclosed

3 only to the categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order.

4 When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the

provisions of Section 13 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).

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

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

8 authorized under this Order.

9 7.2. Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless

10 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a

11 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated

12 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

(a) a Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, including necessary

paralegal, secretarial, clerical personnel assisting such counsel, and any other

15 employees of counsel or independent contractors operating under counsel’s

16 instruction;

(b) a Party’s In-House Counsel (if any exist);

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

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

(d) outside consultants or Experts (as defined in this Order) (i.e., not existing

22 employees or affiliates of a Party or an affiliate of a Party) retained for the purpose of

23 this litigation, provided that: (1) such consultants or experts are not presently

24 employed by the Parties hereto for purposes other than this Action; and (2) before

25 access is given, the consultant or expert has completed the undertaking attached as

26 Exhibit A hereto;

(e) the court and its personnel;

2 as court reporters, stenographers, videographers, graphics or design services, jury or

3 trial consulting services, and photocopy, document imaging, and database services

4 retained by counsel and reasonably necessary to assist counsel with the litigation of

this Action;

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

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

(h) any mediator(s) arbitrator(s), or special masters(s) appointed by the Court

or agreed to by the Parties ;

11 7.3. Disclosure of “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES

ONLY” Information or Items. For Protected Material designated as HIGHLY

CONFIDENTIAL -- ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY, access to, and disclosure of, such

Protected Material shall be limited to individuals listed in Paragraphs 7.2(a) and (d-

h).

16 7.4. Privilege/Work Product Material. Nothing in this Order shall require

17 production of documents, information or other material that a Party contends is

18 protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege, the work product doctrine,

19 or other privilege, doctrine, or immunity. If documents, information or other material

20 subject to a claim of attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine, or other

21 privilege, doctrine, or immunity is inadvertently or unintentionally produced, such

production shall in no way prejudice or otherwise constitute a waiver of, or estoppel

as to, any such privilege, doctrine, or immunity. Any Party that inadvertently or

unintentionally produces documents, information or other material it reasonably

believes are protected under the attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine, or

other privilege, doctrine, or immunity may obtain the return of such documents,

information or other material by promptly notifying the recipient(s) and providing a

privilege log for the inadvertently or unintentionally produced documents,

information or other material. Any Party that believes they have inadvertently or

2 of attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine, or other privilege, doctrine, or

3 immunity, shall immediately notify the producing Party of the potential inadvertent

4 disclosure. The recipient(s) shall gather and return all copies of such documents,

information or other material to the producing Party, except for any pages containing

privileged or otherwise protected markings by the recipient(s), which pages shall

instead be destroyed and certified as such to the producing Party.

8 7.5. There shall be no disclosure of any Designated Material by any person

9 authorized to have access thereto to any person who is not authorized for such access

10 under this Order. The Parties are hereby ORDERED to safeguard all such documents,

11 information and material to protect against disclosure to any unauthorized persons or

12 entities.

7.6. Service of Designated Material. Any Party electronically serving

designated material, shall share the designated material by email or a shared file link

15 to all email eservice addresses identified in the Parties’ Counsel’s signature blocks

16 below. The subject line of the email shall include the language “SERVICE OF

17 DESIGNATED MATERIAL, AKHA, LLC, ET AL., V. PAC-DENT, INC., CASE

18 NO. 8:24-cv-00078”. Non-Designated Material shall be served by the same method,

19 may be eserved in the same email, and the Subject reference line may be modified

20 accordingly.

7.7. Use of Designated Material. Nothing contained herein shall be construed

to prejudice any Party’s right to use any Designated Material in taking testimony at

any deposition, hearing or trial provided that the Designated Material is only disclosed

to a person(s) who is: (i) eligible to have access to the Designated Material by virtue

25 of his or her employment with the designating party, (ii) identified in the Designated

26 Material as an author, addressee, or copy recipient of such information, (iii) although

27 not identified as an author, addressee, or copy recipient of such Designated Material,

28 has, in the ordinary course of business, seen such Designated Material, (iv) a current

2 officer, director or employee of a company affiliated with the producing Party; (v) for

3 CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL, counsel for a Party, including outside counsel, and

4 in-house counsel, and for HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES

ONLY MATERIAL, counsel for a party, excluding in-house counsel, unless agreed

in a prior writing; (vi) subject to Paragraph 4(d), an independent contractor,

consultant, and/or expert retained for the purpose of this litigation; (vii) court

reporters and videographers; (viii) the Court; or (ix) other persons entitled hereunder

to access to Designated Material. Designated Material shall not be disclosed to any

other persons unless prior authorization is obtained from counsel representing the

producing Party.

12 7.8. Acknowledgement Form. Each (i) Party representative or (ii) outside

13 consultant or expert to whom Designated Material is disclosed in accordance with the

14 terms of this Order shall be advised by counsel of the terms of this Order, shall be

informed that he or she is subject to the terms and conditions of this Order, and shall

sign an undertaking that he or she has received a copy of, has read, and has agreed to

be bound by this Order. A copy of the undertaking form is attached as Exhibit A

8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN

OTHER LITIGATION

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

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

23 “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES

24 ONLY” that Party must:

25 (1) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall

include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

27 (2) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to

28 issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena

2 this Stipulated Protective Order; and

(3) to the extent permitted by law, court rule, and court order, withhold

production of the requested information until (a) the producing Party permits

5 production, (b) a court of competent jurisdiction orders otherwise, (c) the producing

6 Party files a motion or other legal action to protect such material and the court has

7 ruled on said motion, or (d) the producing Party fails to file a motion or other legal

8 action to protect such material within five (5) business days following receipt of the

9 notice received in Paragraph 8(1).

The purpose of imposing these duties is to alert the interested Parties to the

existence of this Protective Order and to afford the designating party in this litigation

an opportunity to try to protect its confidentiality interests in the court from which the

subpoena, request or order issued.

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

PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

17 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-

18 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY

19 CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY. Such information produced by

20 Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief

21 provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as

22 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.

(b) To the extent that discovery or testimony is taken of Non-Party, the Non-

Party may designate as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL --

ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” any documents, information or other material, in

26 whole or in part, produced or given by such Non-Party. The Non-Party shall have ten

27 (10) days after production of such documents, information or other materials to make

28 such a designation. Until that time period lapses or until such a designation has been

2 produced or given shall be treated as “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – ATTORNEYS’

3 EYES ONLY” in accordance with this Order.

10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

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

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

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

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

11 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,

12 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and

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

11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

PROTECTED MATERIAL

When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain

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

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

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

may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior

privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the

parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or

information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the

parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted

to the court.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10 12.3. Filing Designated and/or Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file

11 under seal any Designated and/or Protected Material must comply with Civil Local

Rule 79-5. Designated and/or Protected Material may only be filed under seal

pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Designated and/or

Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Designated and/or Protected

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

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

17 12.4. The failure to designate documents, information or material in accordance

18 with this Order and the failure to object to a designation at a given time shall not

19 preclude the filing of a motion at a later date seeking to impose such designation or

20 challenging the propriety thereof. The entry of this Order and/or the production of

21 documents, information and material hereunder shall in no way constitute a waiver of

any objection to the furnishing thereof, all such objections being hereby preserved.

23 12.5. Production of Designated Material by each of the Parties shall not be

24 deemed a publication of the documents, information and material (or the contents

25 thereof) produced so as to void or make voidable whatever claim the Parties may have

26 as to the proprietary and confidential nature of the documents, information or other

27 material or its contents.

2 or limitation of any kind on the rights of each of the Parties to assert any applicable

3 discovery or trial privilege.

12.7. Each of the Parties shall also retain the right to file a motion with the

5 Court (a) to modify this Order to allow disclosure of Designated Material to additional

6 persons or entities if reasonably necessary to prepare and present this Action and (b)

7 to apply for additional protection of Designated Material.

9 13. FINAL DISPOSITION

13.1. Within thirty (30) days of final termination of this Action, including any

appeals, all Designated Material, including all copies, duplicates, abstracts, indexes,

summaries, descriptions, and excerpts or extracts thereof (excluding excerpts or

extracts incorporated into any privileged memoranda of the Parties and materials

which have been admitted into evidence in this Action), shall at the producing Party’s

15 election either be returned to the producing Party or be destroyed. The receiving Party

16 shall verify the return or destruction by affidavit furnished to the producing Party,

17 upon the producing Party’s request.

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

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

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

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

Designated and/or Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or

constitute Designated and/or Protected Material remain subject to this Protective

Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).

13.3. Survival. This Order’s obligations regarding Confidential and Highly

Confidential information survive the conclusion of this case.

1 14. VIOLATION

Any Party knowing or believing that any other party is in violation of or intends

; to violate this Order and has raised the question of violation or potential violation with

* the opposing party and has been unable to resolve the matter by agreement may move

> |! the Court for such relief as may be appropriate in the circumstances. Pending

6 disposition of the motion by the Court, the Party alleged to be in violation of or

7 || intending to violate this Order shall discontinue the performance of and/or shall not

8 || undertake the further performance of any action alleged to constitute a violation of

9 || this Order.

11 || ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

14 DATED: May 10, 2024

is || BY: /Marct. Hankin!

Marc E. Hankin, Esq.

16 HANKIN PATENT LAW, APC

7 Attorneys for Plaintiffs,

AKHA, LLC, and AJK ENGINEERING SERVICES INC.

DATED: May 16, 2024

20 By: / Goa /

21 K. David Crockett, Esq.

Crockett & Crockett, PC

Attorneys for Defendants

23 PAC-DENT, INC.

25 || The filer attests that all other signatories listed, and on whose behalf the filing is

26 || submitted, concur in the filing’s content and have authorized the filing. Local Rule

27 || 5-4.3.4.(a)(2)(A).

1 PURSUANT TO STIPULATION, AND FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO

2 ORDERED.

3 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 502(d), the

4 || production of any documents in this proceeding shall not, for the purposes of this

5 || proceeding or any other federal or state proceeding, constitute a waiver by the

6 || producing party of any privilege applicable to those documents, including the

7 || attorney-client privilege, attorney work-product protection, or any other privilege or

8 || protection recognized by law.

10 |} DATED: May 21, 2024 L, + g |)

HON. DOUGLAS F. MCCORMICK

United States Magistrate Judge

2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

5 I, ____________________________________ [print or type full name], of

6 ____________________________________ [print or type full address], declare

7 under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States of America that:

8 1. I have received a copy of the Protective Order in this action. I have

9 carefully read in its entirety and understand the Protective Order that was issued by

10 the United States District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the

11 case of AKHA, LLC, et al., v. Pac-Dent, Inc., Case No. 24-cv-00078-MRA-DFM.

12 2. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Protective

13 Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me

14 to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt.

15 3. I solemnly promise that I will hold in confidence, will not disclose to

16 anyone not qualified under the Protective Order, and will use only for purposes of this

17 action any information designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY

18 CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” that is disclosed to me.

19 4. Promptly upon termination of these actions, I will return all documents

20 and things designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL -

21 ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” that came into my possession, and all documents and

22 things that I have prepared relating thereto, to the outside counsel for the party by

23 whom I am employed.

28 5. I hereby submit to the jurisdiction of this Court for the purpose of

2 proceedings occur after termination of this action.

4 Date: ________________ Signature: ____________________________

5 Printed Name: _________________________

6 City/State where sworn and signed:

7 _____________________________________

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.