ARIGNA TECHNOLOGY LIMITED v. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Texas
DecidedApril 12, 2022
Docket6:21-cv-00943
StatusUnknown

This text of ARIGNA TECHNOLOGY LIMITED v. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. (ARIGNA TECHNOLOGY LIMITED v. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
ARIGNA TECHNOLOGY LIMITED v. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., (W.D. Tex. 2022).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS WACO DIVISION

ARIGNA TECHNOLOGY LIMITED,

Plaintiff, Case No. 6:21-cv-00943-ADA

vs.

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD; JURY TRIAL DEMANDED SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS AMERICA, INC.; and APPLE INC.

Defendants.

ORDER REGARDING PROTECTIVE ORDER The parties sent the Court an email submission disputing the entry of a protective order. The Court hereby resolves the dispute. Apple’s Position 1) Deletion of Source Code Provisions (references to source code, deleting Arigna’s Paragraph 13 and adding Apple’s Paragraph 36). The parties’ primary area of dispute is the treatment of highly sensitive/confidential source code. Arigna concedes it is not seeking to review source code at this time, nor has any party produced code. Arigna has informed Apple that it urgently seeks to enter a Protective Order so that its experts may review Apple confidential documents – not code. Apple therefore proposes deleting all source code provisions so that the parties can separately negotiate source code provisions when and if code is implicated in this case, or alternatively, entering Apple’s proposed additions in Exhibit 1 in Apple’s redlined Protective Order. 2) No Sharing of Defendants’ Confidential Information with Each Other (Paragraph 32). This provision ensures that no defendant’s confidential information is shared with another defendant absent the other defendant’s consent, as Apple and Samsung are competitors. Additionally, this provision is consistent with Arigna’s request to restrict defendants from sharing Arigna’s infringement contentions with each other, which the Court previously granted. Feb. 16, 2022 Hrg. Tr. at 17:2-17.

3) Geographic restrictions and export controls of Apple confidential information (Paragraphs 7(e) and 31). This standard provision reduces the risk associated with transporting Protected Material to foreign jurisdictions and ensures Apple’s compliance with export control laws. The Protective Order does not (and cannot) grant any Federal Court personal jurisdiction over persons located in foreign countries necessary to enforce the Protective Order. Westerngeco LLC v. Ion Geophysical Corp., 776 F. Supp. 2d 342, 367 n.17 (S.D. Tex. Mar. 2, 2011) (“Although a state may, in limited circumstances, extend its jurisdiction beyond the territorial limits of its sovereignty, any such extension is ‘subject to the consent of other nations.’”). Non-public information produced in this litigation is also likely to be subject to export control designations, including for example Export Control Classification Numbers 5A992.c and EAR99. This

provision is therefore appropriate and reasonable. See, e.g., ContentGuard Holdings, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc. et al., Case No. 2:13-cv-01112-JRG (Docket No. 151) at 6 (E.D. Tex. June 6, 2014) (entering “No Export” provision). 4) Addition of Fed. R. Evid. 502(d). This standard provision clarifies the scope of inadvertent production of privileged material by allowing, under FRE 502(d), the Court to “order that the privilege or protection is not waived by disclosure connected with the litigation pending before the court — in which event the disclosure is also not a waiver in any other federal or state proceeding.” This provision seeks to prevent any party from using inadvertent productions in this litigation in other litigations. 5) Confidentiality designations for native file printouts (Paragraph 5). When native files are printed for use in depositions, confidentiality designations will not appear on the printouts. Apple therefore requests parties add such designations on printouts of confidential, native files. 6) Destruction of inadvertently produced materials lacking proper designations

(Paragraph 6). Arigna’s Proposed Order is ambiguous as to how long a party may retain inadvertently produced materials. Apple requests a period of three business days to avoid unreasonable retention of these materials. Arigna’s Position 1) Source Code Provisions. There is no need to defer the entry of source code provisions. It is unclear at this point whether Defendants will produce source code in this case, but third party manufacturers of relevant semiconductor chips are likely to do so. Entering a protective order with the Court’s default source code provisions will clarify the procedures for any source code productions that take place and avoid future disputes. 2) One-Sided Restriction on Arigna. This provision is absent from the Court’s default order

and is superfluous. Under the default protective order, all parties must handle Protected Material as prescribed by the protective order’s provisions—which would not permit Arigna to share Apple’s Protected Material with Samsung. Moreover, Apple’s proposed provision is unilaterally restrictive on Plaintiff, and not on Defendants. 3) Geographic Restriction. Apple’s proposed geographic restrictions are not in the Court’s default protective order and would impose unnecessary and prejudicial burdens. Arigna is an Irish company and intends to work with a technical consultant based outside the U.S. These provisions would unreasonably curtail Arigna’s access to information permitted by the other protective order provisions as well as its consultant’s involvement in this matter. 4) Federal Rule of Evid. 502(d). This provision is not included in the Court’s default order and is superfluous to the default order’s protections. 5) Native Files. Apple’s proposed provision is not limited to native files and would impose an unnecessary logistical and practical burden. 6) Three-Day Destruction. Apple’s strict requirement of destruction within three business days is unnecessary, and absent from the Court’s default protective order. Resolution The Court generally defaults to its model protective order and deviates as little as possible from its model protective order except by agreement of the parties. The Court will enter Arigna’s version of the protective order, which contains restrictions on using source code like the model protective order. The Court finds no reason to permit secure electronic transfer and removes this provision. The parties’ agreed terms to transfer by hard copy and physical media is convenient enough. Source code is among a company’s most valuable and protected assets. Arigna articulates no justification for risking exposure of source code via electronic transfer. The Court likewise sees no reason to delay entering a protective order with source code provisions if third parties are likely to need source code protection. Export control laws have force regardless of whether the protective order mentions them. Apple’s justification for editing paragraph 5 is redundant with other paragraphs of the model protective order that require documents to be marked with their confidentiality designation. The Court rejects the other proposed modifications that do not appear in the model protective order. The Court hereby enters the appended Protective Order. SIGNED this 12th day of April, 2022. Cis Ge wh ALAN D ALBRIGHT

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS WACO DIVISION

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD; JURY TRIAL DEMANDED SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS AMERICA, INC.; and APPLE INC.

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Related

Westerngeco L.L.C. v. Ion Geophysical Corp.
776 F. Supp. 2d 342 (S.D. Texas, 2011)

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ARIGNA TECHNOLOGY LIMITED v. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arigna-technology-limited-v-samsung-electronics-co-ltd-txwd-2022.