Good Technology Prevails in Protective Order Dispute

On May 14, 2012, Magistrate Judge Renee Harris Toliver resolved a protective order dispute in Good Technology’s favor.  A copy of the opinion is available here.  Defendants Little Red Wagon Technologies and Fixmo U.S. had wanted one of their employees to be able to view Good Technology’s settlement and license agreements relating to the patent-in-suit.  Good Technology wanted to limit disclosure of such agreements to Defendants’ outside counsel only. 

Judge Toliver sided with Good Technology, finding that: 

The Northern District of Texas’ default protective order in patent cases prohibits disclosure of a party’s “Confidential Attorney Eyes Only Information” to an opposing party’s employees. (See N.D. Tex. Amended Misc. Order No. 62, Appendix A at ¶ 8). Accordingly, Defendants’ employees normally would not be entitled to have access to Plaintiff’s settlement and license agreements under the agreed-upon language in the stipulated protective order. Additionally, the Court agrees with Plaintiff that Defendants’ lack of in-house counsel is immaterial because neither Plaintiff’s nor Defendants’ employees will have access to Protected Materials designated “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL – OUTSIDE ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY.” Thus, the parties are on equal footing in this regard. Defendants’ counsel will have access to all of the Protected Materials in question, which may ultimately prove to be sufficient under the circumstances of this case.

Good Technology is represented by Theodore Stevenson, III, Ashley Moore, Craig Tolliver, Geoffrey Smith, Jennifer Henry, Steven Callahan, and Steven Pollinger, all of McKool Smith, P.C.; and Douglas Roy and Robert Muller, both of Cypress LLP.

Little Red Wagon Technologies and Fixmo U.S. are represented by Benjamin Hershkowitz, Bill Dawson, Olivia Jennings, Paul Torchia, and Steven Kalogeras, all of Gibson Dunn and Crutcher LLP.

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