Delhi High Court - Orders
Nokia Technologies Oy vs Lenovo Group Ltd. & Anr on 1 October, 2020
Author: C. Hari Shankar
Bench: C. Hari Shankar
$~1 (original side)
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ I.A. 8809/2020 in CS (COMM) 581/2019
NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Mr. Pravin Anand, Ms.
Vaishali Mittal and Mr. Rohin
Koolwal, Advs.
versus
LENOVO GROUP LTD. & ANR. ..... Defendants
Through: Ms. Sneha Jain, Mr. Yatinder
Garg and Ms. Asavari Jain,
Advs.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C. HARI SHANKAR
ORDER
% 01.10.2020
(Video-Conferencing)
I.A. 8809/2020 in CS(OS) 581/2019
1. This application has been necessitated owing to the difficulty in filing confidential documents, after the confidentiality club had been constituted by this Court, vide order, dated 24th February, 2020.
2. The order, dated 24th February, 2020, notes that several commercially sensitive documents have been filed by the plaintiff in a sealed cover and, in order to maintain confidentiality of such information, a confidentiality club, consisting of four counsel and two representatives and one external expert, for each side, was constituted. The members of the confidentiality club were permitted to make copies of the confidential documents/information, after they were Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI CS(OS) 581/2019 Page 1 of 3 Signing Date:03.10.2020 14:26:43 redacted as required by the parties seeking confidentiality. It was also directed that the confidentiality club would abide by the protocol contained in Annexure F of the Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules, 2018.
3. As physical filing of the documents has not commenced, to the extent it was permitted prior to the restrictions imposed consequent to the Covid-2019 pandemic, the plaintiff, by this application, essentially, seeks appropriate directions to ensure that confidential documents could be filed by the plaintiff, maintaining the confidentiality thereof.
4. The suggestion of learned counsel for the defendants, to the effect that the documents could be filed in a sealed cover with the Registry, and provided to the plaintiff's representatives in a sealed cover, is not acceptable to the learned counsel for the plaintiff, who submits that such a procedure might seriously jeopardise the confidentiality of the information.
5. Mr. Pravin Anand, learned counsel for the plaintiff suggests, instead, that the documents could be filed in an encrypted format with the Registry, with the password shared with the learned Registrar General, so that they could, at the appropriate stage, be accessed by the representatives of the parties, who are entitled to access thereto.
6. Ms. Sneha Jain, learned counsel for the defendants, submits that if the encryption is limited to password protection, her client would Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI CS(OS) 581/2019 Page 2 of 3 Signing Date:03.10.2020 14:26:43 have no objection to such a procedure being followed.
7. Accordingly, with the consent of the parties, this application is disposed of by permitting the plaintiff to file the confidential pleadings and documents, in accordance with the order, dated 24th February, 2020, whereby the confidentiality club was constituted, with the Registry in an encrypted format, with the password being shared only with the Registrar General and with those persons who have been permitted to be members of the confidentiality club on behalf of the defendants. The Registry would ensure that the confidentiality of these documents is maintained, and that the documents, or the contents thereof, are not made accessible to any other person, without the leave of the Court and at the appropriate stage.
8. The defendants are also at liberty to follow the same protocol, while filing documents in respect of which they claim confidentiality.
9. Learned counsel for the defendants also submits that certain documents have been filed by the defendants in a sealed cover and seeks that they may be returned to the defendants, so that they could be re-filed, in accordance with the above protocol. The Registry is directed to return the documents filed in a sealed cover, so that the defendants could re-file the documents following the above protocol.
C. HARI SHANKAR, J.
OCTOBER 01, 2020 r.bararia Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI CS(OS) 581/2019 Page 3 of 3 Signing Date:03.10.2020 14:26:43