Summary
This document is a Stipulated Protective Order entered in StarQuest Ventures, Inc. v. Dexcom, Inc., a trademark dispute in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. It governs the designation, handling, disclosure, challenge, and disposition of confidential and highly confidential discovery materials, including customer and health information. The order was stipulated through counsel and entered by the court on August 21, 2025.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the court should enter the parties' stipulated protective order governing confidential and highly confidential discovery material.
- What procedures and limitations should govern designation, disclosure, challenge, use, filing, and disposition of protected discovery material.
Holdings
- The court entered the parties' stipulated protective order and adopted its confidentiality, access, challenge, use, sealing, sanctions, and final-disposition provisions.
- A party or nonparty may challenge a confidentiality designation through the procedures in the order and Local Rule 37, while the designating party bears the burden of persuasion and the material remains protected under the existing designation until the court rules.
- The protective order does not itself authorize filing protected material under seal; a party must comply with Central District of California Local Rule 79-5 and obtain a court order authorizing sealing of the specific material.
Key quotations
“Protected Material may be filed under seal only pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected Material at issue.” (§ 12.3)
“The burden of persuasion in any such proceeding is on the Designating Party.” (§ 6.3)
“A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Nonparty in connection with this Action only for prosecuting, defending, or attempting to settle this Action.” (§ 7.1)
Factual background
The action concerns a trademark dispute involving the name "Stelo." The parties anticipated that discovery would require disclosure of business practices, customer lists, business plans, customer identifying information, and statements concerning personal health. The court found that the stipulated protections were warranted under the standards governing confidential discovery material.
Procedural history
StarQuest Ventures filed this trademark action against Dexcom on June 16, 2025. The parties submitted a stipulated protective order on August 19, 2025, and the court entered the order on August 21, 2025.