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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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Case No.
11 Plaintiff,
12 v. STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
ORDER
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14 Defendant.
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17 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
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19 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
20 proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public
21 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
22 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
23 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
24 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
25 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
26 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
27 under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in
28 Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to
1 file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the
2 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party
3 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.
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5 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
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7 [*The “Good Cause Statement” should be edited to include or exclude specific
8 information that applies to the particular case, i.e., what harm will result from
9 the disclosure of the confidential information likely to be produced in this case?
10 Below is an example]:
11 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and
12 other valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or
13 proprietary information for which special protection from public disclosure and
14 from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such
15 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other
16 things, confidential business or financial information, information regarding
17 confidential business practices, or other confidential research, development, or
18 commercial information (including information implicating privacy rights of third
19 parties), information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be
20 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,
21 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of
22 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of
23 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep
24 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of
25 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling
26 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
27 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information
28 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so
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1 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,
2 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public
3 record of this case.
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5 2. DEFINITIONS
6 2.1 Action: [this pending federal law suit]. [*Option: consolidated or
7 related actions.]
8 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
9 designation of information or items under this Order.
10 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
11 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
12 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
13 the Good Cause Statement.
14 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
15 their support staff).
16 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or
17 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
18 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
19 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
20 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
21 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
22 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
23 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
24 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
25 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
26 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
27 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
28 counsel.
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1 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or
2 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
3 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
4 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.
7 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
8 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
9 support staffs).
10 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
11 Discovery Material in this Action.
12 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
13 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
14 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
15 and their employees and subcontractors.
16 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is
17 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
18 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
19 Material from a Producing Party.
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21 3. SCOPE
22 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
23 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
24 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
25 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
26 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
27 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
28 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
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1 4. DURATION
2 [ONE POSSIBLE PARAGRAPH] Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the
3 information that was designated as confidential or maintained pursuant to this
4 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members
5 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific
6 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the
7 trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th
8 Cir. 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in
9 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are
10 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend
11 beyond the commencement of the trial.
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13 [ALTERNATIVE POSSIBLE PARAGRAPH] Even after final disposition of
14 this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this Order shall remain in
15 effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order
16 otherwise directs. Final disposition shall be deemed to be the later of (1) dismissal
17 of all claims and defenses in this Action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final
18 judgment herein after the completion and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings,
19 remands, trials, or reviews of this Action, including the time limits for filing any
20 motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law.
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22 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
23 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
24 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
25 this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that
26 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
27 protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written
28 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents,
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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. Designations
4 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
5 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
6 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
7 Party to sanctions.
8 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
9 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
10 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
11 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
12 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
13 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
14 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
15 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 that
21 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page
22 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected
23 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
24 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
25 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated
26 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
27 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
28 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
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1 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
2 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before
3 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
4 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
5 portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing
6 Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
7 markings in the margins).
8 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identify
9 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
10 deposition all protected testimony.
11 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
12 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
13 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the
14 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information
15 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the
16 protected portion(s).
17 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
18 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
19 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
20 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
21 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
22 Order.
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24 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
25 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a
26 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
27 Scheduling Order.
28 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
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1 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq. or follow the procedures for
2 informal, telephonic discovery hearings on the Court's website.
3 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall
4 be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for
5 an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses
6 and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to
7 sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn the
8 confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material
9 in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the
10 Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.
11 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
12 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
13 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with
14 this Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action.
15 Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and
16 under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been
17 terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13
18 below (FINAL DISPOSITION). Protected Material must be stored and
19 maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in a secure manner that
20 ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order.
21 Protected Material may not be uploaded to any open or unsecure AI platforms.
22 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items.
23 Unless otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the
24 Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any information
25 or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
26 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action,
27 as well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is
28 reasonably necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
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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 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
4 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
6 (d) the court and its personnel;
7 (e) court reporters and their staff;
8 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
9 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
10 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
11 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
12 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
13 (h) during their depositions, witnesses ,and attorneys for witnesses, in the
14 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
15 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will
16 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
17 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
18 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
19 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
20 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except
21 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
22 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
23 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
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25 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
26 IN OTHER LITIGATION
27 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
28 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
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1 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
2 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
3 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
4 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
5 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
6 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include
7 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
8 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
9 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
10 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
11 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
12 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
13 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
14 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
15 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
16 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
17 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
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19 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
20 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
21 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
22 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
23 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
24 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be
25 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
26 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
27 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
28 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
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1 confidential information, then the Party shall:
2 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
3 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
4 agreement with a Non-Party;
5 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
6 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
7 specific description of the information requested; and
8 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
9 Non-Party, if requested.
10 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
11 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
12 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
13 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
14 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
15 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
16 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and
17 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
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19 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
20 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
21 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
22 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
23 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
24 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or
25 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
26 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
27 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
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1 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
2 PROTECTED MATERIAL
3 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
4 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
5 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
6 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure
7 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without
8 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar
9 as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or
10 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the
11 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted
12 to the court.
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14 12. MISCELLANEOUS
15 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
16 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
17 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
18 Protective Order no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
19 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
20 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
21 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
22 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
23 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may
24 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the
25 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party's request to file Protected Material
26 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
27 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
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1 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
2 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
3 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
4 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
5 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
6 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
7 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
8 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
9 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies
10 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
11 destroyed and (2)affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
12 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
13 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
14 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
15 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
16 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
17 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
18 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
19 Section 4 (DURATION).
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1 14. Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate
2 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary
3 sanctions.
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5 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
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7 DATED _______________________
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9 _____________________________________
Attorneys for Plaintiff
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12 DATED:________________________
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14 _____________________________________
Attorneys for Defendant
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17 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
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19 DATED:________________________
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21 _____________________________________
[Name of Judge]
22 United States District/Magistrate Judge
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1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
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4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of
5 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury
6 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that
7 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California
8 on [date] in the case of ___________ [insert formal name of the case and the
9 number and initials assigned to it by the court]. I agree to comply with and to be
10 bound by all the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and
11 acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment
12 in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner
13 any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective Order to any
14 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the
16 Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this
17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after
18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print
19 or type full name] of _______________________________________ [print or type
20 full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in
21 connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this
22 Stipulated Protective Order.
23 Date: ______________________________________
24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
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26 Printed name: _______________________________
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28 Signature: __________________________________
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