Abram v. Seeco, Inc.

          PROTECTIVE ORDER

         The Court holds that the following procedures and provisions apply to discovery in this civil action (the "Action") in order to protect information of a sensitive, confidential, proprietary, or legally protected nature, and the privacy rights of the parties or certain non-parties. The entry of this Protective Order is not, and should not be construed as, a waiver by any party or non-party of any privilege or objection to any particular discovery request.

         I. DEFINITIONS

         A. "Party" means any current plaintiff or defendant in this Action, and any plaintiff, defendant, or other party that may be joined in this Action.

         B. "Non-Party" means any person or entity not a Party who produces documents or other information or provides testimony in response to a subpoena or other process in this Action.

         C. "Material" is defined as documents, electronically stored information, records, tangible materials, testimony, responses to discovery, and other information produced by a Party or Non-Party in discovery in this Action.

         D. "Confidential Material" is defined as Material that any Party or Non-Party considers in good faith to be information relating to: trade secrets, research, development, strategic planning, financial, commercial, confidential, sensitive or proprietary business, or personal information which, if disclosed, might adversely affect the competitive position or business operations of the Party or Non-Party producing the materials, or invade the privacy rights of any person. Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Protective Order must take care to limit any designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards.

         E. The "Designator" is any Party or Non-Party who produces Material in this Action and designates any such Material as "CONFIDENTIAL" in conformity with Section II.

         II. DESIGNATION OF MATERIALS AS "CONFIDENTIAL"

         Any Party or Non-Party who produces Material in the course of discovery in this Action may designate such Material as Confidential Material if that Party or Non-Party believes in good faith that the Material satisfies the definition of Confidential Material, as set forth in Paragraph ID.

         A. The Designator will mark the word "CONFIDENTIAL" on the face of each document and each page so designated at the time it is produced or served, or, in the case of Confidential Material contained in or on media other than paper, by affixing such a label to the information or by using its best efforts to identify the information as Confidential Material.

         B. In the event that a Party or Non-Party desires to designate specific answers or responses to interrogatories or requests for admission as Confidential Material, the Party or Non-Party will insert the word "CONFIDENTIAL" in brackets at the beginning of the specific answer or response.

         C. In the case of depositions, designation of the portion of the transcript (including exhibits) which contains Confidential Material will be made within fifteen business days after receipt of the transcript by stamping "CONFIDENTIAL" on the pages that contain Confidential Material and notifying all Parties and the deponent in writing of the page and line numbers which have been designated as Confidential Material. In the absence of an agreement on the record or in writing, or an order of the Court to the contrary, all deposition testimony will be deemed Confidential Material until the expiration of the fifteen-business-days period.

         D. For purposes of this Action, no Party concedes that any Material designated by any other Designator as Confidential Material should be treated as Confidential Material. A Party will not be obligated to challenge the propriety of the designation of Material as "CONFIDENTIAL" at the time made, and the failure to do so will not preclude a later challenge in this or any other action. If a Party challenges a designation, it will give written notice to the Designator, and the Party and the Designator must attempt to resolve any challenge in good faith on an informal basis ("meet and confer"). If the challenge cannot be informally resolved, the Party challenging the designation may seek appropriate relief from the Court; however, the burden of proof will be on the Designator. The Material will continue to be treated as Confidential Material until the issue relating to the propriety of the designation has been resolved.

         E. Any Designator may, at any time, withdraw the "CONFIDENTIAL" designation of any Material produced by that Designator.

         F. The inadvertent failure to designate or withhold any Material as confidential will not be deemed to waive a later claim as to its confidential nature, or to preclude the producing Party or Non-Party from designating the Material as confidential at a later date in writing and with particularity. The Material will be treated by the receiving Party as Confidential Material from the time the receiving Party is notified in writing of the change in the designation.

         III. USE AND HANDLING OF ...