United States District Court, D. Kansas
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
James
P. O'Hara U.S. Magistrate Judge
Discovery
in this action will likely include production of material and
information that the producing party contends is
confidential, proprietary, or private, and for which special
protection from public disclosure and from use for any
purpose other than prosecuting this litigation is warranted.
Ford anticipates producing documents that include
Confidential Information, including, but not limited to, the
following proprietary, private, and commercially sensitive
business information and trade secrets: (1) documents related
to advanced research, (2) documents containing business or
financial information, (3) documents containing engineering
materials, such as Computer Aided Engineering
(“CAE”) models, (4) design and/or manufacturing
specifications and procedures, (5) communications with and
process documents pertaining to Ford's suppliers and
supplier relationships, and (6) customer information.
Disclosure of this information could result in serious and
immediate competitive and economic harm. Because information
produced in this case may be shared with consulting and
testifying experts, a private agreement between the parties
will not suffice to protect the information in the categories
listed above, and a court order is required.
To
expedite the flow of discovery material, facilitate the
prompt resolution of confidentiality disputes, adequately
protect confidential materials, and ensure that protection is
afforded only to material so entitled, it is, pursuant to the
Court's authority under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
(“FRCP”) 26(c)(1) and with the consent of the
parties, hereby ORDERED that:
1.
Documents or information to be produced or provided by Ford
or any party in this litigation that contain
“Confidential Information” may be designated as
confidential by marking or placing the applicable notice
“Subject to Protective Order, ” or
“Confidential, ” or substantially similar
language on media containing the documents, on the document
itself, or on a copy of the document, in such a way that it
does not obscure the text or other content of the document.
2. For
purposes of this Protective Order, the following terms are
defined:
a. “Document” or “Information” shall
mean-and include, without limitation-all written material and
other tangible items, produced in any format (e.g.,
hard-copy, electronic, digital, etc.) and on whatever media
(e.g., hardcopy, videotape, CD-ROM, DVD, hard drive or
otherwise) defined as broadly as permitted under FRCP 34.
b. “Protected Documents” shall mean produced
documents which contain Confidential Information.
3.
Protected Documents and Confidential Information shall only
be used, shown or disclosed as provided in this Order.
However, nothing in this Order shall limit a party's use
or disclosure of his or her own information designated as a
Protected Document or Confidential Information.
4. If a
receiving party disagrees with the “Protected”
designation of any document or information, the party will
notify the producing party in a written letter and identify
the challenged document(s) with specificity, including
Bates-number(s) where available, and the specific grounds for
the objection to the designation. If the parties are unable
to resolve the issue of confidentiality regarding the
challenged document(s), Ford will thereafter timely apply to
the Court to set a hearing for the purpose of establishing
that the challenged document(s) or information is/are
confidential. Protected Documents will continue to be treated
as such pending determination by the Court as to the
confidential status.
5.
Protected Documents and any copies thereof shall be
maintained confidential by the persons authorized to receive
the documents pursuant to paragraph 6 and shall be used only
for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this
litigation, subject to the limitations set forth herein.
6.
Protected Documents shall be disclosed only to
“Qualified Persons.” Qualified Persons are
limited to:
a. Counsel of Record for the parties, and the parties;
b. Paralegals and staff employed by Counsel of Record and
involved in the preparation and trial of this action;
c. A vendor hired by a party to host data and maintain a
database of electronic data or perform other work related to
the collection, review or ...