Global Material Technologies, Inc. v. Dahzeng Metal Fibre Co., Ltd

          Maddin Hauser Roth & Heller, P.C. Kathleen H. Klaus (P67207) Attorney for Plaintiff

          Patzik, Frank & Samotny Ltd., Phillip S. Reed Jonathan S. Goodman Attorneys for Plaintiff

          Brooks Wilkins Sharkey & Turco PLLC Maureen T. Taylor (P63547) Alexandra Stan (P80616) Brooks Wilkins Sharkey & Turco PLLC Attorneys for Garnishee Defendants

          STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

          TERRENCE G. BERG, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

         Pursuant to Local Rule 26.4 of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c), the Court's authority, the Court's order regarding the submission of a stipulated protective order (Dkt. 119), for good cause shown, and on stipulation of the parties, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that any party or non-party (the “producing party”) may designate information, documents, testimony, tangible items, or things produced or disclosed in this Garnishment Action as “Confidential” or “Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only” under the following terms and conditions of this Protective Order (the “Order”):

         1. Any document, information, testimony, tangible item, or thing may be designated “Confidential” if the producing party determines in good faith that it contains confidential or proprietary information (the “Confidential Material”). Information or documents that are available to the public may not be designated as “Confidential”.

         2. Any document, information, tangible item, testimony, or thing produced by any party which a party believes in good faith contains a trade secret or other highly confidential research, development, or commercial information as those terms are applied within Rule 26(c)(1)(G) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and consistent with the law of this Circuit, which contains particularly sensitive confidential information proprietary to the producing party may be designated “Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only” (the “Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only Material”).

         3. A producing party may designate any document, information, testimony, thing, or other tangible item or thing as Confidential Material or Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only Material by conspicuously stamping or appending the appropriate designation. In the case of a paper document, a producing party may so mark the first page of a multipage document or each applicable page. In the case of an electronic document, a producing party may append to that document the appropriate designation that does not alter the metadata associated with the document, or may place the appropriate designation mark “CONFIDENTIAL” or “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL-ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY” on the outside of the medium (whether disc, hard drive, etc.) containing the document.

         4. A non-producing party may also designate any document, information, testimony, tangible item, or things produced during the course of this proceeding, not already designated “Confidential” or “Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only” as Confidential Material or Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only Material as if it were a producing party. The non-producing party shall accomplish such designation by notifying all parties in writing of the specific item so designated.

         5. A producing party may designate documents, information, testimony, or things disclosed at a deposition as Confidential Material or Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only Material on the record during the deposition or, within 30 days of receiving the deposition transcript, by notifying all parties in writing of the specific item so designated or the lines and pages of the transcript that are Confidential or Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only Material. All deposition transcripts and exhibits will be deemed Highly Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only Material for a period of 30 days after the receipt of the deposition transcript.

a. If a producing party designates Confidential Material or Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only Material on the record, the court reporter shall indicate that fact on the cover page of the transcript that the transcript includes Confidential or Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only Material information, and shall list the pages and line numbers and/or exhibits of the transcript on or in which such information is contained, and shall bind the transcript in separate portions containing “Confidential” or “Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only” and non-Confidential material. Further, during the period in which such Confidential or Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only Material is discussed during the deposition, any person present during the deposition who is not authorized to receive such information under Paragraph 11 below shall be excluded from that portion of the deposition.

b. A non-producing party may designate documents, information, testimony, or things disclosed at a deposition as Confidential or Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only Material in the same manner as a producing party.

6. If a party producing documents, information, testimony, tangible items, or things inadvertently fails to mark it as “Confidential” or “Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only” Material for which it desires such treatment, it shall so inform the party receiving the materials forthwith, but in no event later than thirty (30) days following discovery of the inadvertent disclosure. The receiving party thereupon shall return the unmarked materials to the producing party and the producing party shall substitute properly marked materials.

         7. The inadvertent or unintentional disclosure by a producing party supplying confidential discovery material, regardless of whether such discovery material was designated as “Confidential” or “Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only” Material, shall not be deemed a waiver in whole or in part of the producing party's claim of confidentiality with respect to the discovery material disclosed, provided that the producing party making such inadvertent or unintentional disclosure notifies the receiving parties forthwith, but in no event later than thirty (30) days after it learns of such inadvertent or unintentional disclosure. If discovery material has been disclosed and is subsequently designated as “Confidential” or “Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only” Material, the parties shall make good faith efforts to preserve the “Confidential” nature of such discovery material and to obtain compliance with this Order from any person to whom such discovery material was disclosed.

         8. If a producing party, at the time of disclosure, inadvertently fails to identify as “Confidential” or “Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only” any discovery material (including, without limitation, documents, oral, visual, or recorded information) for which it desires such treatment, and another party files the material with the Court prior to receiving notice that such material was inadvertently disclosed without the desired designation, the producing party who made the inadvertent disclosure shall be responsible for seeking appropriate relief from the Court.

         9. Should any party object to a designation of any Confidential Material or Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only Material, the parties or the producing party shall, on an expedited basis, meet and confer in a good-faith attempt to reach an agreement regarding the status of that material. The parties are strongly encouraged to resolve all such objections and, if appropriate, utilize the services of a neutral to assist the parties in the resolution of the dispute. If an objection is not thereby resolved, a party may bring the dispute before the Court on an expedited basis for a determination. The party claiming the “Confidential” or “Highly Confidential-Attorneys' Eyes Only” designation shall have the burden of proving good cause for the entry of an order maintaining the designation of the information, documents, or ...