Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation v. Acella Pharmaceuticals Incorporated

Filing 236

ORDER denying 233 Motion to Seal Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment and Memorandum of Law and Accompanying Statement of Material Facts. The Clerk shall strike the Proposed documents at Docket entries 234 and 235. Within five days of the d ate of this Order, either Acella shall resubmit the stricken documents for filing into the public record or the parties may file a Stipulation containing compelling reasons for sealing the Memorandum in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment and acco mpanying Statement of Material Facts and/or for sealing only certain Exhibits to the Statements of Material Facts. FURTHER ORDERED granting 230 Motion for Leave to File Excess Pages. The Clerk shall file into the record the Proposed Motion for Summary Judgment and Memorandum of Law (Redacted) currently lodged at docket entry 231 . Signed by Judge James A Teilborg on 8/3/11.(MAP)

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1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8 9 Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation, Plaintiff, 10 11 vs. 12 Acella Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, 13 Defendant. 14 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) No. CV 10-1780-PHX-JAT ORDER 15 16 Defendant Acella Pharmaceuticals, LLC has filed a Motion for Leave to File Its 17 Unredacted Motion for Summary Judgment and Memorandum of Law and Accompanying 18 Statement of Material Facts Under Seal (Doc. 233). In support of its Motion to Seal, Acella 19 asserts that counsel for both parties have designated certain Exhibits to Acella’s Motion for 20 Summary Judgment, and facts found in those Exhibits, as “Confidential” and “Attorneys’ 21 Eyes Only” pursuant to their Protective Order. The parties’ designation of certain items as 22 confidential pursuant to a protective order does not justify sealing a dispositive motion. 23 The Court starts with a strong presumption in favor of public access to court records. 24 Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003). A party that 25 wants to seal any part of a dispositive motion must overcome this strong presumption with 26 compelling reasons for sealing. Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 27 1179 (9th Cir. 2006). To seal any part of non-dispositive motion, a party still must 28 demonstrate good cause. Id. at 1180. 1 Acella offers no reason for sealing other than the parties’ designation of certain items 2 as confidential. Acella has not met its burden of overcoming the strong presumption of open 3 access to court documents with compelling reasons. The Court therefore will deny the 4 Motion to Seal. 5 Pursuant to Local Rule of Civil Procedure 5.6(e), the Court will strike the Sealed 6 Lodged Proposed Unredacted Statement of Material Facts (Doc. 235) and the Sealed Lodged 7 Proposed Unredacted Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 234). Within five days of the 8 date of this Order, either Acella shall resubmit the stricken documents for filing into the 9 public record or the parties may file a Stipulation containing compelling reasons for sealing. 10 If the parties choose to file a Stipulation, the Court encourages them to seek to seal as little 11 as possible. 12 Acella also filed a Motion for Leave to File Excess Pages for Motion for Summary 13 Judgment and Memorandum of Law (230). Acella seeks an extra two pages for its 14 Memorandum. Finding good cause, the Court will grant the Motion. 15 Accordingly, 16 IT IS ORDERED DENYING Acella’s Motion to Seal Defendant’s Motion for 17 Summary Judgment and Memorandum of Law and Accompanying Statement of Material 18 Facts (Doc. 233). The Clerk shall strike the Proposed documents at Docket entries 234 and 19 235. Within five days of the date of this Order, either Acella shall resubmit the stricken 20 documents for filing into the public record or the parties may file a Stipulation containing 21 compelling reasons for sealing the Memorandum in Support of Motion for Summary 22 Judgment and accompanying Statement of Material Facts and/or for sealing only certain 23 Exhibits to the Statements of Material Facts. 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 -2- 1 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED GRANTING Acella’s Motion for Leave to File 2 Excess Pages (Doc. 230). The Clerk shall file into the record the Proposed Motion for 3 Summary Judgment and Memorandum of Law (Redacted) currently lodged at docket entry 4 231. DATED this 3rd day of August, 2011. 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -3-

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