1 2 3 4 5 6 7

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

8

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

9

10 FLINT CPS INKS NORTH ) Case No.: 8:20-CV-00651-JLS (JDEx)

AMERICA, LLC, ) STIPULATED DISCOVERY

11 ) PROTECTIVE ORDER Plaintiff, ) 12 ) 13 v. ) ) 14 TREND OFFSET PRINTING )

SERVICES, INC., ANTHONY J. )

15

LIENAU, ROBERT LIENAU, )

16 MUNIR AHMED, ADAM ) LIENAU, TODD NELSON, and ) 17 DOES 1 through 10, inclusive, ) ) 18 Defendants. ) 19 Based on the parties’ stipulation (Dkt. 83) and for good cause appearing 20 therein, the Court finds and orders as follows. 21 Plaintiff Flint CPS Inks North American, LLC (“Plaintiff”), and 22 defendants Trend Offset Printing Services, Inc., Anthony J. Lienau, Robert 23 Lienau, Munir Ahmed, Adam Lienau, Todd Nelson (“Defendants,” and 24 together with Plaintiff, the “Parties”) stipulate and jointly move the Court to 25 issue the following protective order (“Stipulated Protective Order”) to govern 26 the disclosure of confidential documents and information in this lawsuit. 27 1 1. 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 pursuing this litigation may 5 be warranted. Accordingly, the Parties hereby stipulate to and petition the 6 Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The Parties 7 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all 8 disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from 9 public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that 10 are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles. 11 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 12 This action is likely to involve confidential contract terms, product 13 pricing information, purchase orders and product usage information, payment 14 terms, volume rebate information, and other related financial and/or 15 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure 16 and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is 17 warranted, and which is otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or 18 which may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or 19 federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to 20 expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes 21 over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information 22 the Parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the Parties are 23 permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in 24 the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and 25 serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is justified in 26 this matter. It is the intent of the Parties that information will not be designated 27 as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated without a 1 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record 2 of this case. 3 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING 4 PROCEDURE 5 The Parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that 6 this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential 7 information under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that 8 must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks 9 permission from the court to file material under seal. There is a strong 10 presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial proceedings and 11 records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, good cause 12 must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and 13 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. 14 Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony 15 Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated 16 protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good 17 cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal 18 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material (as defined 19 below) that a party seeks to file under seal. The Parties’ mere designation of 20 Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not— without 21 the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the 22 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or 23 otherwise protectable—constitute good cause. 24 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, 25 then compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, 26 and the relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to 27 be protected. See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th 1 be filed or introduced under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate 2 compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the 3 requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting the application 4 to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 5 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise 6 protectable in its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions 7 can be redacted. If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for 8 public viewing, omitting only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise 9 protectable portions of the document, shall be filed. Any application that seeks 10 to file documents under seal in their entirety should include an explanation of 11 why redaction is not feasible. 12 4. DEFINITIONS 13 4.1 Action: this pending federal lawsuit. 14 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 15 designation of information or items under this Order. 16 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information 17 (regardless of how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that 18 qualify for protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as 19 specified above in the Good Cause Statement. 20 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well 21 as their support staff). 22 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates 23 information or items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery 24 as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 25 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, 26 regardless of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or 27 maintained (including, among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible 1 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a 2 matter pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its 3 counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action. 4 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this 5 Action. House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any 6 other outside counsel. 7 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, 8 association or other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 9 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 10 party to this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and 11 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law 12 firm that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 13 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, 14 directors, employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of 15 Record (and their support staffs). 16 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 17 Discovery Material in this Action. 18 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 19 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing 20 exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any 21 form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors. 22 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 23 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” 24 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 25 Material from a Producing Party. 26 27 1 5. SCOPE 2 The protections conferred by this Stipulated Protective Order cover not 3 only Protected Material, but also (1) any information copied or extracted from 4 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of 5 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by 6 Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material. 7 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of 8 the trial judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the 9 use of Protected Material at trial. 10 6. DURATION 11 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as 12 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this Stipulated Protective Order 13 used or introduced as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be 14 presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, 15 unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed 16 otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana, 17 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing 18 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when 19 merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of 20 this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 21 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 22 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for 23 Protection. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information 24 or items for protection under this Stipulated Protective Order must take care to 25 limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the 26 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection 27 only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written 1 items or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 2 unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 3 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. 4 Designations that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made 5 for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development 6 process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may 7 expose the Designating Party to sanctions. 8 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items 9 that it designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating 10 Party must promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the 11 inapplicable designation. 12 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise 13 provided herein, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery 14 Material that qualifies for protection under this Stipulated Protective Order 15 must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or produced. 16 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 17 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic 18 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial 19 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend 20 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page 21 that contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page 22 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the 23 protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 24 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for 25 inspection need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting 26 Party has indicated which documents it would like copied and produced. 27 During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made 1 inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants copied and produced, 2 the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions thereof, 3 qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified 4 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to 5 each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on 6 a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify 7 the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 8 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party 9 identifies the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close 10 of the deposition all protected testimony. 11 (c) for information produced in some form other than 12 documentary and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix 13 in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or containers in which the 14 information is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or 15 portions of the information warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the 16 extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s). 17 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an 18 inadvertent failure to designate qualified information or items does not, 19 standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under 20 this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the 21 Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is 22 treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order. 23 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 24 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 25 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 26 Scheduling Order. 27 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute 1 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be 2 via a joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2. 3 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall 4 be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an 5 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens 6 on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the 7 Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all 8 Parties shall continue to afford the material in question the level of protection 9 to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court 10 rules on the challenge. 11 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 12 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material 13 that is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection 14 with this Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this 15 Action. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of 16 persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has 17 been terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 18 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). 19 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party 20 at a location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the 21 persons authorized under this Order. 22 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 23 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating 24 Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 25 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 26 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this 27 Action, as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is 1 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House 2 Counsel) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary 3 for this Action; 4 (c) Experts (as defined in this Stipulated Protective Order) of the 5 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action 6 and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” 7 (Exhibit A); 8 (d) the court and its personnel; 9 (e) court reporters and their staff; 10 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and 11 Professional Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this 12 Action and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be 13 Bound” (Exhibit A); 14 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the 15 information or a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew 16 the information; 17 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, 18 in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the 19 deposing party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A 20 hereto; and (2) they will not be permitted to keep any confidential information 21 unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit 22 A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. 23 Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal 24 Protected Material may be separately bound by the court reporter and may not 25 be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated Protective 26 Order; and 27 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting 1 personnel, mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement 2 discussions. 3 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED 4 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION 5 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other 6 litigation that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this 7 Action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must: 8 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such 9 notification shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 10 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena 11 or order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered 12 by the subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification 13 shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 14 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 15 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If 16 the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the 17 subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this 18 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which 19 the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating 20 Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense 21 of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in 22 these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a 23 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court. 24 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO 25 BE PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 26 (a) The terms of this Stipulated Protective Order are applicable to 27 information produced by a Non-Party in this Action and designated as 1 connection with this Action is protected by the remedies and relief provided by 2 this Stipulated Protective Order. Nothing in these provisions should be 3 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 4 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery 5 request, to produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, 6 and the Party is subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the 7 Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall: 8 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non- 9 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a 10 confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party; 11 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 12 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a 13 reasonably specific description of the information requested; and 14 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 15 Non-Party, if requested. 16 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court 17 within 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the 18 Receiving Party may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information 19 responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective 20 order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession 21 or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party 22 before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the contrary, the 23 Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this court 24 of its Protected Material. 25 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED 26 MATERIAL 27 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has 1 authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must 2 immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized 3 disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the 4 Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized 5 disclosures were made of all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, and 6 (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an 7 Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A. 8 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR 9 OTHERWISE PROTECTED MATERIAL 10 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 11 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other 12 protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in 13 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to 14 modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that 15 provides for production without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Fed. R. 16 Evid. 502(d), the production of any documents in this proceeding shall not, for 17 the purposes of this proceeding or any other federal or state proceeding, 18 constitute a waiver by the producing party of any privilege applicable to those 19 documents, including the attorney-client privilege, attorney work-product 20 protection, or any other privilege or protection recognized by law. Information 21 produced in discovery that is protected as privileged or work product shall be 22 immediately returned to the producing party, and its production shall not 23 constitute a waiver of such protection. 24 14. MISCELLANEOUS 25 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Stipulated Protective 26 Order abridges the right of any person to seek its modification by the Court in 27 the future. 1 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object 2 to disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not 3 addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any 4 right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered 5 by this Stipulated Protective Order. 6 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 7 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected 8 Material may only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the 9 sealing of the specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected 10 Material under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file 11 the information in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 12 15. FINAL DISPOSITION 13 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, 14 within 60 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving 15 Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such 16 material. As used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all 17 copies, abstracts, compilations, summaries, and any other format reproducing 18 or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the Protected Material is 19 returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification 20 to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the 21 Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category, 22 where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed 23 and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, 24 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of 25 the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to 26 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and 27 hearing transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial 1 || work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material. Any such 2 || archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to 3 || this Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION). 4 16. VIOLATION 5 Any violation of this Stipulated Protective Order may be punished by 6 || appropriate measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings 7 |}and/or monetary sanctions. 8 g || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED. 10 11 |} DATED: September 14, 2020 i dL 12 13 jo D. EARLY : 4 nited States Magistrate Judge

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A to STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, ______________________________________ [print or type full name], 5 of ________________________________________________________________ 6 [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in 7 its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by 8 the United States District Court for the Central District of California on the 9 date listed above in the case of Flint CPS Inks North America, LLC v. Trend Offset 10 Printing Services, Inc., Anthony J. Lienau, Robert Lineau, Munir Ahmed, Adam 11 Lienau, Todd Nelson, and Does 1 through 10, inclusive, Case No. 8:20-cv-00651- 12 JLS (JDEx). I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this 13 Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to 14 so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of 15 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any 16 information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any 17 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this 18 Stipulated Protective Order. 19 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District 20 Court for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the 21 terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings 22 occur after termination of the Action. 23 24 Date: _________________________ 25 26 Signature: ________________________________ 27