Pait Solutions LLC v. Dejant Group Corp.et al

• Court: District Court, C.D. California
• Decided: August 11, 2025
• Docket: 2:24-cv-08666
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 PAIT SOLUTIONS LLC, an Ohio limited liability company; et al. Case No. 2:24-cv—08666 RGK (PVCx) 12 Lo. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE Plaintiffs, ORDER 13 Vv. 14 15 DEJANT VENTURES CORP, erroneously sued as “Dejant Group 16 Corp.”, a California corporation; et al., 17 18 Defendants. || DEJANT VENTURES CORP, a 20 California corporation, 71 Counterclaim Plaintiff, 22 V. 23 4 PAIT SOLUTIONS LLC, an Ohio limited liability company; et al., 25 36 Counterclaim Defendants. 27 28

1 | 1. INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS 3 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, 4 || proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public 5 || disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may 6 || be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to 7 || enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this 8 || Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to 9 |) discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends 10 || only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment 11 || under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth 12 || in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to 13 || file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the 14 || procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party 15 || seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 16 1.2 GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT 17 The parties in the above-captioned action allege they are former business 18 || associates and are now direct competitors of each other for the marketing, 19 || distribution, and sale of beverage products, and licensing of related intellectual 20 || property. The parties have asserted cross-actions against each other for infringement 21 || of intellectual property, breach of contract, and various business torts. The parties 22 || allege this case is likely to involve discovery of their trade secrets, customer and 23 || pricing lists and other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, 24 || technical and/or proprietary information, from both the parties and from third parties 25 || who transact business with the parties, for which special protection from public 26 || disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is 27 || warranted. 28

1 Such confidential and proprietary materials and information is anticipated to 2 || consist of, among other things, the parties’ confidential business or financial 3 || information, confidential information concerning the identity of customers and 4 || distributors and their preferences, the parties’ costs of goods sold and pricing 5 || practices, information regarding confidential business practices, or other 6 || confidential research, development, or commercial information (including 7 || information implicating privacy rights of third parties), contracts, non-public 8 || compilations of retail prices, supplier and vendor agreements, supplier and vendor 9 |) identities, supplier pricing information and commissions or fees paid to suppliers, 10 || personnel files, non-public policies and procedures, as well as other documents and 11 || information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be 12 || privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, 13 || court rules, case decisions, or common law. 14 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt 15 || resolution of disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately 16 || protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the 17 || parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for 18 || and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and 19 || serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information 1s justified in this 20 || matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be designated as 21 || confidential or attorneys eyes’ only for tactical reasons and that nothing be so 22 || designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, 23 || non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public 24 || record of this case, or in the case of the most competitively sensitive material, why it 25 || should be produced solely on an attorneys’ eyes only basis. 26 27 28

1 13 ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER 2 SEAL 3 The parties further acknowledge that this Stipulated Protective Order does not 4 || entitle them to file confidential information under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets 5 || forth the procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied 6 || when a party seeks permission from the court to file material under seal. 7 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial 8 || proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions, 9 || good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal (see Kamakana v. City and 10 || County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006); Phillips v. Gen. Motors 11 || Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002); Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, 12 || Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders 13 || require good cause showing)), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling 14 || reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with 15 || respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere 16 || designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as “CONFIDENTIAL” or 17 || “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” does not—without 18 || the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establish that the material 19 || sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise 20 || protectable—constitute good cause. 21 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then 22 || compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the 23 || relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. 24 || See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For 25 || each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced 26 || under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking 27 || protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal 28

1 || justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting 2 || the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration. 3 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in 4 || its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If 5 || documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting 6 || only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, 7 || shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their 8 || entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible. 9 10 || 2. DEFINITIONS 11 2.1 Action: the above-captioned pending federal lawsuit. 12 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the 13 || designation of information or 1tems under this Order. 14 2.3. “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of 15 || how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for 16 || protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in 17 || the Good Cause Statement. 18 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as 19 || their support staff). 20 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or 21 || items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as 22 || “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES 23 || ONLY.” 24 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless 25 || of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, 26 || among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or 27 || generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter. 28

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 “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” 5 || Information or Items: extremely sensitive “Confidential Information or Items,” 6 || disclosure of which to another Party or Non-Party would create a substantial risk of 7 || serious harm that could not be avoided by less restrictive means. 8 2.9 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action. 9 || House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside 10 || counsel. 11 2.10 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or 12 || other legal entity not named as a Party to this action. 13 2.11 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a 14 || party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and 15 || have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm 16 || which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff. 17 2.12 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors, 18 || employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their 19 || support staffs). 20 2.13 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or 21 || Discovery Material in this Action. 22 2.14 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation 23 || support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or 24 || demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) 25 || and their employees and subcontractors. 26 2.15 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is 27 || designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or as “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — 28 || ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.”

1 2.16 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery 2 || Material from a Producing Party. 3 4 || 3. SCOPE 5 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only 6 || Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or 7 || extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or 8 || compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or 9 || presentations by Parties, Non-Parties, or their Counsel that might reveal Protected 10 || Material. 11 Any use of Protected Material at trial will be governed by the orders of the 12 || trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial. 13 14 || 4. DURATION 15 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the information that was designated as 16 || “CONFIDENTIAL” OR “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES 17 || ONLY,” or maintained pursuant to this protective order becomes public and will be 18 || presumptively available to all members of the public, including the press, unless 19 || compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are 20 || made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of 21 || Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” 22 || showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” 23 || standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the 24 || terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial. 25 26 || 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL 27 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. 28 || Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under

1 || this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that 2 || qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for 3 || protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written 4 || communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, 5 || items, or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept 6 || unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order. 7 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations 8 || that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper 9 || purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose 10 || unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating 11 || Party to sanctions. 12 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it 13 || designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must 14 || promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation. 15 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in 16 || this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of Section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise 17 || stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection 18 || under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or 19 || produced. 20 Designation in conformity with this Order requires: 21 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, 22 || but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that 23 || the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter 24 || “CONFIDENTIAL legend”) or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ 25 || EYES ONLY, (hereinafter “AEO CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that 26 || contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 27 || qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 28 || portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).

1 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection 2 || need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated 3 || which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and 4 || before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection will be 5 || deemed “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ 6 || EYES ONLY,” as the case may be. After the inspecting Party has identified the 7 || documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which 8 || documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before 9 || producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the 10 || “CONFIDENTIAL legend” or “AEO CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that 11 || contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page 12 || qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected 13 || portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins). 14 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify the 15 || Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all 16 || protected testimony and specify the level of protection being asserted. Alternatively, 17 || the Designating Party may designate information disclosed at the deposition as 18 || “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES 19 || ONLY” by notifying the court reporter and other parties in writing, within fifteen 20 || (15) days of receipt of the transcript, of the specific pages and lines of the transcript 21 || which are designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — 22 || ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” The parties may agree to a reasonable extension of 23 || the 15-day period for designation. Designations of transcripts will apply to audio, 24 || video, or other recordings of the testimony. During such 15-day period, the entire 25 || transcript shall recetve “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES 26 || ONLY” treatment. Upon such designation, the court reporter and each party shall 27 || affix the appropriate legend (“CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — 28 || ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”) to the designated pages and segregate them as

1 || appropriate. Only those portions that are appropriately designated for protection 2 || within the fifteen-day period shall be covered by the provisions of this Stipulated 3 || Protective Order after said designation period. 4 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for 5 || any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the 6 || exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend 7 || “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES 8 || ONLY,” as the case may be. If only a portion or portions of the information 9 || warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, will identify the 10 || protected portion(s). The Receiving Party shall mark any hard-copy printouts and 11 || the storage medium of any permissible copies of such electronic material with the 12 || corresponding legend contained on the original and such copies shall become 13 || subject to the same protections as the information or items from which those copies 14 || were made. 15 5.3. Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent 16 || failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive 17 || the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. 18 || Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable 19 || efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this 20 || Order. 21 22 || 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS 23 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a 24 || designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s 25 || Scheduling Order. 26 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party will initiate the dispute 27 || resolution process (and, if necessary, file a discovery motion) under Local Rule 37.1 28 || et seq.

1 6.3. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding will be on 2 || the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper 3 || purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other 4 || parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating 5 || Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties will 6 || continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is 7 || entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the 8 || challenge. 9 10 || 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 11 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is 12 || disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this 13 || Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action. Such 14 || Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the 15 || conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a 16 || Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of Section 13 below (FINAL 17 || DISPOSITION). 18 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a 19 || location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons 20 || authorized under this Order. 21 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless 22 || otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a 23 || Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated 24 || “CONFIDENTIAL” only to: 25 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as 26 || well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 27 || necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 28

1 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of 2 || the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action 3 || unless any such information or item is designated as “CONFIDENTIAL- 4 |} ATTORNEYS AND EXPERTS’ EYES ONLY,” then in such case, only to those 5 || persons listed in Section 7.2(a), (d)-(); 6 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 7 || disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 8 || “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 9 (d) the Court and its personnel; 10 (e) court reporters and their staff; 11 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional 12 || Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have 13 || signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 14 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 15 || custodian or other person who is shown, in written or oral evidence, or foundation 16 || laid in deposition testimony, to have otherwise possessed or knew the information; 17 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the 18 || Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party 19 || requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they 20 || will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the 21 || “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise 22 || agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed 23 || deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may 24 || be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except 25 || as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and 26 (1) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 27 ‘|| mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 28

1 7.3. Disclosure of “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES 2 || ONLY” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in 3 || writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information or 4 || item designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” only 5 || to: 6 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as 7 || well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably 8 || necessary to disclose the information for this Action; 9 (b) experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom 10 || disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the 11 || “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A) prior to receiving 12 || “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” materials; provided, 13 || however, that before a Receiving Party may disclose, directly or indirectly, any 14 || information designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES 15 || ONLY,” the Receiving Party must email written notice to the Designating Party’s 16 || outside counsel of record the following information regarding such expert or 17 || consultant: (1) an Executed Exhibit A; (11) confirmation that the expert or consultant 18 || has been advised in writing that his or her disclosure of information designated 19 || “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” to the Receiving 20 || Party is prohibited; and (111) the outside consultant’s current curriculum vitae or 21 || other description setting forth the person’s name and office address, his or her 22 || present employer with job title and job description, any business or personal 23 || relationship to any of the Parties (aside from being retained to consult and/or 24 || provide testimony in the Action), and a brief job history for the past five years;; 25 (c) the court and its personnel; 26 (d) court reporters and their staff, 27 (e) professional jury or trial consultants, and Professional Vendors to 28 || whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the

1 || “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A); 2 (f) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a 3 || custodian or other person who otherwise is shown, in written or oral evidence, or 4 || foundation laid in deposition testimony, possessed or knew the information; 5 (g) the Designating party’s own employees, officers and directors, 6 || solely as to the Designating party’s own “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL- 7 || ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY” material; 8 h) during their depositions, third-party witnesses and attorneys for 9 || third-party witnesses, in the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary, 10 || provided: (1) no party or nonparty objects to the proposed disclosure to the third- 11 || party witness or attorney for the third-party witness; (2) the deposing party requests 12 || that the third-party witness sign the form attached hereto as Exhibit A; (3) prior to 13 || any disclosure, the deposing party consults with the Designating Party and counsel 14 || participating in the deposition in order to determine whether a party or nonparty 15 || objects to the disclosure; and (4) the third-party witness and his or her attorney may 16 || not keep any confidential information unless they sign the “Acknowledgment and 17 || Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise agreed by the Designating 18 || Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed deposition testimony or exhibits 19 || to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be separately bound by the court 20 || reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this 21 || Stipulated Protective Order; and 22 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, 23 || mutually agreed upon by the parties engaged in settlement discussions. 24 7.4 Data Security. The Parties agree to provide adequate security to protect 25 || data produced by the other Party(ies) or by Non-Parties. At a minimum, any 26 || Receiving Party subject to the terms of this Protective Order, will provide 27 || reasonable measures to protect non-client data consistent with the American Bar 28

1 || Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Formal 2 || Opinion 477R. 3 4 || 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED 5 || INOTHER LITIGATION 6 Ifa Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation 7 || that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as 8 || “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES 9 |} ONLY,” that Party must: 10 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification 11 || will include a copy of the subpoena or court order; 12 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order 13 || to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the 14 || subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification will include 15 || acopy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and 16 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be 17 || pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. 18 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with 19 || the subpoena or court order will not produce any information designated in this 20 || action as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ 21 || EYES ONLY” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or 22 || order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The 23 || Designating Party will bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that 24 || court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed 25 || as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful 26 || directive from another court. 27 28

1 || 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE 2 || PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION 3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a 4 || Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY 5 || CONFIDENTIAL — ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY”. Such information produced by 6 || Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief 7 || provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as 8 || prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections. 9 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to 10 || produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is 11 || subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s 12 || confidential information, then the Party will: 13 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party 14 || that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality 15 || agreement with a Non-Party; 16 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated 17 || Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably 18 || specific description of the information requested; and 19 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the 20 || Non-Party, if requested. 21 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 22 || 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party 23 || may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery 24 || request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party will 25 || not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the 26 || confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. 27 || Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party will bear the burden and expense 28 || of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.

1 || 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL 2 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed 3 || Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this 4 || Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in 5 || writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts 6 || to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or 7 || persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, 8 || and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and 9 |) Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A. 10 Protected Material shall only be used for the purpose of litigating the Action 11 || and shall not be used in other actions or proceedings. 12 Persons having knowledge of Protected Material and information due to their 13 || participation in the conduct of this Action shall use such knowledge and information 14 || only as permitted herein, and shall not disclose such Protected Material, their 15 || contents or any portion or summary thereof to any person(s) not involved in the 16 || conduct of the Action. 17 18 || 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE 19 || PROTECTED MATERIAL 20 The inadvertent production of privileged or work-product protected 21 || documents, electronically stored information (ESI) or information is not a waiver of 22 || the privilege or protection from discovery in this case or in any other federal or state 23 || proceeding. When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain 24 || inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, 25 || the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil 26 || Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever 27 || procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production 28 || without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and

1 || (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a 2 || communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work 3 || product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated 4 || protective order submitted to the court. 5 This Order shall be interpreted to provide the maximum protection allowed by 6 || Federal Rule of Evidence (FRE) 502(d) and shall be enforceable and granted full 7 || faith and credit in all other state and federal proceedings by 28 U.S. Code § 1738. In 8 || the event of any subsequent conflict of law, the law that is most protective of 9 || privilege and work product shall apply. 10 Nothing contained in this Order is intended to or shall serve to limit a Party’s 11 || right to conduct a review of documents, ESI or information (including metadata) for 12 || relevance, responsiveness and/or segregation of privileged and/or protected 13 || information before production. 14 If a Receiving Party has reason to believe that a produced document or other 15 || information may reasonably be subject to a claim of privilege, then the Receiving 16 || Party shall immediately sequester the document or information, cease using the 17 || document or information and cease using any work product containing the 18 || information, and shall inform the Producing Party of the beginning BATES number 19 || of the document or, if no BATES number is available, shall otherwise inform the 20 || Producing Party of the information. 21 A Producing Party must give written notice to any Receiving Party asserting a 22 || claim of privilege, work-product protection, or other ground for reclaiming 23 || documents or information (a “clawback request’). After a clawback request is 24 || received, the Receiving Party shall immediately sequester the document (if not 25 || already sequestered) and shall not review or use that document, or any work product 26 || containing information taken from that document, for any purpose. The Parties shall 27 ‘|| meet and confer regarding any clawback request. 28

1 || 12. MISCELLANEOUS 2 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any 3 || person to seek its modification by the Court in the future. 4 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this 5 || Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to 6 || disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this 7 || Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any 8 || ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order. 9 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any 10 || Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may 11 || only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the 12 || specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material 13 || under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information 14 || inthe public record unless otherwise instructed by the court. 15 16 || 13. FINAL DISPOSITION 17 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in Section 4, within 60 18 || days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return 19 || all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in 20 || this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations, 21 || summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected 22 || Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving 23 || Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same 24 || person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies 25 || (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or 26 || destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, 27 || abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any 28 || of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to

1 || retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing 2 || transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert 3 || reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even 1f such 4 || materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or 5 || constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in 6 || Section 4 (DURATION). 7 8 || 14. Any willful violation of this Order may be punished by civil or criminal 9 || contempt proceedings, financial or evidentiary sanctions, reference to disciplinary 10 || authorities, or other appropriate action at the discretion of the Court. 11 12 || FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN BY THE PARTIES’ STIPULATION, IT IS SO 13 || ORDERED. 14 15 Kf ° 16 || DATED: August 11, 2025 fuk "7 United States Magistrate Judge 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

1 EXHIBIT A 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND 3 4 I, [full name], of 5 || [full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and 6 || understand the Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States 7 || District Court for the Central District of California on [date] in the case of 8 [insert case name and number]. I agree to comply with and to be 9 || bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and 10 || acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment 11 || in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner 12 || any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any 13 || person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order. 14 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court 15 || for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this 16 || Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after 17 || termination of this action. I hereby appoint [full 18 || name] of [full address and 19 || telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with 20 || this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective 21 || Order. 22 || Date: 23 || City and State where signed: 24 25 || Printed name: 26 27 ‘|| Signature: 28