Indect USA Corp. v. Park Assist, LLC
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Roger T. Benitez (author)
Analysis
The court considered motions by the defendant to file portions of their summary judgment and motion to dismiss briefing under seal, which contained commercially sensitive and proprietary business data. The court granted the motions, directing the Clerk to file the unredacted versions under seal while maintaining redacted versions on the public docket.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Motion to file documents under seal (ECF No. 141) granted“Accordingly, the motions to seal are granted.” | agree with court The court applied the Ninth Circuit's standard from Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, finding that the documents contained trade secrets and proprietary business data, which constitutes a compelling reason to outweigh the public interest in disclosure. The order recites that the documents were previously designated confidential under a protective order, supporting the finding of sensitivity. The decision follows from the cited law and the recited facts. |
Motion to file documents under seal (ECF No. 186) granted“Accordingly, the motions to seal are granted.” | agree with court The court applied the Ninth Circuit's standard from Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, finding that the documents contained trade secrets and proprietary business data, which constitutes a compelling reason to outweigh the public interest in disclosure. The order recites that the documents were previously designated confidential under a protective order, supporting the finding of sensitivity. The decision follows from the cited law and the recited facts. |
The order itself: sound — The order correctly identifies the applicable standard from binding Ninth Circuit precedent (Kamakana) and applies it to the specific facts recited (proprietary business data, trade secrets, existing protective order designations). It also cites persuasive district court authority consistent with the Ninth Circuit's standard. The reasoning is concise but sufficient for a routine sealing motion where the parties have already designated the materials as confidential under a protective order.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 INDECT USA CORP., a Texas ) Case No.: 3:18-cv-02409-BEN-DEB corporation, ) 12 ) Plaintiff, 13 ) ORDER GRANTING MOTIONS TO v. ) FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL 14 ) PARK ASSIST, LLC, a Delaware limited 15 ) [ECF Nos. 141, 186] liability company, ) 16 Defendant. ) 17 ) PARK ASSIST, LLC, a Delaware limited ) 18 liability company, ) 19 Counterclaimant, ) 20 v. ) ) 21 INDECT USA CORP., a Texas ) corporation, ) 22 Counterdefendant. ) 23 )
24 Concurrent with the Parties’ briefing on the previously decided Motion for 25 Summary Judgment and Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 195), Defendants moved to file 26 documents under seal. The portions of motions sought to be sealed contain, reference, or 27 discuss commercially sensitive and proprietary business data. These documents have 28 | previously designated “Confidential” or “Confidential — Attorneys’ Eyes Only,” 2 pursuant to the Protective Order issued in this case. See ECF No. 43. 3 “TC]ompelling reasons sufficient to outweigh the public’s interest in disclosure and 4 ||justify sealing court records exist when such court files might . . . become a vehicle for 5 || improper purposes, such as the use of records to .. . release trade secrets.” Kamakana v. 6 || City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1179 (9th Cir. 2006). A “trade secret may 7 || consist of any formula, pattern, device or compilation of information which is used in 8 ||one’s business, and which gives him an opportunity to obtain an advantage over 9 || competitors who do not know or use it.”” The Court can seal proprietary information to 10 || protect a business from potential harm. See Obesity Research Institute, LLC v. Fiber 11 || Research International, LLC, No. 15-CV-00595-BAS-MDD, 2017 WL 6270268, at *2 12 ||(S.D. Cal. Dec. 8, 2017) (granting motion to file documents containing proprietary 13 || business information under seal). 14 Accordingly, the motions to seal are granted. Redacted versions of the 15 || aforementioned documents have been filed on the public docket. The Clerk is directed to 16 || file unredacted versions of the documents and exhibits lodged at Docket Numbers 142 17 187 under seal. 18 IT IS SO ORDERED. 19 Dated: November 16, 2021 0 HON. ROGER T. BENIT Z United States District Judge 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28