Oracle and Google Stipulate to a Proposed Protective Order

“After the presiding judge, the Hon. William Alsup, ruled the
other day on the parties’ remaining disputes over proposed terms
for a protective order in the Oracle v. Google litigation, Oracle
and Google then got together and have come up with their own
solution, a proposed stipulated protective order they are
submitting to the court for approval. There is also a scheduling
agreement on such things as what format to provide discovery
materials in.

“The judge had said if either side didn’t like his decision,
they could file motions, but instead they have resolved the issues
that they told the judge they couldn’t resolve before. His order
gave them a big nudge, and they have now come up with something
they can each live with. I think he figured if he gave them a map
of his preferences, they could get to their final destination
quickly without him having to decide every last detail. And that
may explain why he didn’t provide any substitute language on a
prosecution bar. He was, I gather, trying to prod the parties into
settling their remaining issues themselves. And it looks like it
worked. They have now done so.

“Google won the issue of in-house counsel, but it had to come up
with new prosecution bar language. So that is the main change. As
for other highly confidential materials, there is a process for
allowing up to five in-house counsel to view it, but never source
code. And Sun lawyers, now Oracle America lawyers, are defined as
house counsel, hence barred from viewing code.”

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