Voltstar Technologies, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc.

What the Court Ordered

The parties stipulated to, and Judge Jesse Furman ordered, a protective order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). A protective order sets limits on how litigation materials may be used and who may see them. The order applies to discovery materials produced by the parties or nonparties, including documents, testimony, written discovery responses, pleadings, and information derived from those materials.

Confidentiality Categories and Use

The order creates three main designations: “CONFIDENTIAL,” “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY,” and “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY—SOURCE CODE.” Protected material may be used only to prosecute, defend, or try to settle this action. Access is generally limited to counsel, certain party personnel, experts, court personnel, court reporters, litigation-support providers, witnesses in specified circumstances, mediators, and other persons allowed by the order or by written consent.

The order permits a receiving party to challenge a confidentiality designation at any time, subject to meet-and-confer procedures and possible court intervention. The party that designated the material bears the burden of justifying the designation. The order also provides procedures for correcting inadvertent designations, responding to unauthorized disclosures, handling inadvertently produced privileged material, and responding when protected material is subpoenaed or sought in another lawsuit.

Source-Code Protections

Source code must generally be reviewed at specified counsel offices or another mutually agreed location. The order requires secure, stand-alone computers without network access, restricts recording devices and copying, limits printed source code to what is reasonably necessary for court filings or other permitted papers, and sets a general 500-page printing limit. It also requires review logs, limits who may access printed source code, and restricts electronic copies and images.

Patent-Prosecution Restriction

The order imposes a one-year prosecution bar after the action ends, including appeals. Attorneys representing Voltstar and other persons who obtain or learn Amazon’s protected material may not prepare or prosecute patent applications concerning the field of invention of the patents-in-suit for Voltstar or specified related entities during the action and that one-year period. Voltstar must create an ethical wall separating persons with access to Amazon’s protected material from individuals working on covered patent applications.

Sealing and Public Access

The order expressly states that it does not automatically permit filing protected material under seal. A party seeking to seal material must follow Local Rule 5.4 and obtain a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific material. The court stated that it had not reviewed the documents referred to in the stipulation and made no finding that any document was confidential. Any such finding would be made, if necessary, through document-by-document review, subject to the presumption favoring public access to judicial documents.

Duration and Enforcement

The confidentiality obligations continue after final disposition unless the designating party agrees otherwise in writing or a court orders otherwise. After final disposition, a receiving party generally must return or destroy protected material within 60 days of a written request and provide a certification, although counsel may retain specified archival materials subject to the order. Violations may result in contempt proceedings, monetary sanctions, or other appropriate measures. The court did not decide the merits of the underlying dispute between Voltstar and the Amazon defendants.