Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Lexeo Therapeutics, Inc.

Nature of the Order

This is a stipulated protective order governing discovery in Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Lexeo Therapeutics, Inc., et al. The parties represented that discovery was likely to involve confidential, proprietary, private, and sensitive information. The court entered the order as a binding order and the parties’ counsel stipulated that it would also be binding among the parties and their counsel.

The order does not provide blanket protection for everything disclosed in discovery. Protection applies only to information that qualifies under the applicable legal standards, including information covered by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), nonpublic business or technical information, private personal information, and information protected by a contract or court order. The order also states that it does not itself authorize filing protected material under seal.

Protection Levels and Designations

The order establishes two categories of protected material:

- “CONFIDENTIAL” information, whose disclosure could harm a party’s or person’s competitive position or personal interests. - “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL—OUTSIDE COUNSEL EYES ONLY” information, consisting of more sensitive or strategic material whose disclosure could significantly harm competitive, business, or personal interests. Examples include trade secrets, nonpublic financial information, pricing and sales strategies, product roadmaps, research and development materials, sensitive technical information, and private medical or financial information.

Designating parties must limit designations to specific material that qualifies for protection. Mass, indiscriminate, or routine designations are prohibited, and clearly unjustified or improper designations may lead to sanctions. The order establishes marking requirements for documents, electronic information, testimony, and other tangible materials. An inadvertent failure to designate material does not, by itself, waive the right to seek protection if the designation is timely corrected.

Challenges to Confidentiality Designations

A party or nonparty may challenge a confidentiality designation at any time, although delay and prejudice may be grounds for opposition. The challenging party must provide written notice and the basis for the challenge. The parties must confer directly within seven days and attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute. If they cannot resolve it, the disputing party must raise the issue with the court within 14 days after the conference.

Access and Use

Protected material may be used only to prosecute, defend, or try to settle this case. It must be stored securely, with access limited to authorized persons. “CONFIDENTIAL” material may be disclosed to specified outside counsel, one designated in-house counsel meeting the order’s requirements, approved experts, the court and its personnel, court reporters, certain document custodians and witnesses, and mutually agreed mediators or settlement officers.

“Highly Confidential—Outside Counsel Eyes Only” material may be disclosed to a narrower group, generally including outside counsel, approved experts, the court and its personnel, court reporters, certain custodians and witnesses, and mutually agreed mediators or settlement officers. It may not be disclosed to designated in-house counsel under the order’s ordinary access provision.

Before protected material is disclosed to an expert, counsel must provide information about the expert, including the expert’s name, curriculum vitae, current employer and title, recent testimony history, and signed agreement to follow the order. The designating party may object for good cause, and the material may not be disclosed to the expert while a timely objection is being resolved.

The order also places limits on designated in-house counsel’s competitive decision-making concerning the subject of the case. The restriction generally lasts from the first receipt of confidential discovery material until one year after final disposition, while preserving specified exceptions for Lexeo’s Chief Legal and Business Officer and Rocket Pharmaceutical’s Vice President, Intellectual Property.

Subpoenas, Nonparties, and Privilege

A party receiving a subpoena or other compulsory request for protected material in another proceeding must notify the designating party, notify the person or entity issuing the request, and cooperate with reasonable efforts to protect the material. The order also protects nonparty material produced in this case and gives a nonparty 30 days after receiving specified notice to seek court protection before production occurs.

If privileged or otherwise protected material is inadvertently produced, the protection is not waived if the producing party requests its return within ten days after learning of the production. The receiving parties then must follow the procedures in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B).

Sealing and Security

A party seeking to file protected material under seal must comply with the court’s individual practices, electronic filing procedures, and any specific court order. No document may be filed under seal without a further order addressing the particular material. The order modifies the usual notice periods for using an opposing party’s confidential information: the party seeking to use it must give five days’ advance notice, and the party seeking sealing may apply within three days afterward.

The order requires reasonable physical, logical, and data-access controls. A receiving party that discovers a security breach must notify the producing party within 24 hours, investigate and remediate the breach at its expense, provide information about the breach’s scope, and take corrective action. The receiving party must also reasonably assist with legally required notifications and investigations.

After the Case and Enforcement

The confidentiality obligations continue after final disposition unless the designating party agrees otherwise in writing or a court orders otherwise. Within 60 days after a written request following final disposition, each receiving party must return or destroy protected material and provide written certification. Counsel may retain archival copies of specified litigation materials, but those copies remain subject to the order.

The court retains jurisdiction after final disposition to resolve disputes under the order. Violations may be addressed through contempt proceedings, monetary sanctions, or other appropriate measures. Judge P. Kevin Castel entered the order on May 22, 2024.