General Electric Company, et al. v. Wilkins

Filing 292

ORDER Granting Request to Seal Documents signed by Magistrate Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 2/8/2012. (Leon-Guerrero, A)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, et al., )
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Plaintiffs,
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v.
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THOMAS WILKINS, an individual
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Defendant.
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____________________________________ )

Case No.: 1:10-cv-00674 LJO JLT
ORDER GRANTING REQUEST TO SEAL
DOCUMENTS
(Doc. 291)

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Before the Court is Mitsubishi’s second Request to Seal Documents related to the current
discovery dispute (Doc. 279). (Doc. 291)
A motion to seal documents that are not part of the judicial record, such as “private

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materials unearthed during discovery,” is governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c).

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Pintos v. Pac. Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 678 (9th Cir. Cal. 2010). Under Federal Rule of

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Civil Procedure 26(c), the Court may issue orders to “protect a party or person from annoyance,

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embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense, including . . . requiring that a trade

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secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information not be revealed or

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be revealed only in a specified way.”

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To make the determination whether documents should be sealed, the Court must evaluate
whether “‘good cause’ exists to protect th[e] information from being disclosed to the public by

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balancing the needs for discovery against the need for confidentiality.’” Pintos, 605 F.3d at 678

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(quoting Phillips ex rel. Estates of Byrd v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1213 (9th Cir.

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2002))

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Once again, the documents at issue are all stamped “CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEY

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EYES ONLY INFORMATION.” Just as in its previous request, the documents appear to be

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internal communications related to the patent application(s) for the intellectual property at issue.

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Some appear to be directed to or are authored by an attorney employed by GE Power Systems.

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The Court finds that the entire exhibit appears to be made up of confidential information not

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otherwise available or known to the public. Likewise, the Court finds that the need to maintain

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the confidentiality of this material outweighs the need for public disclosure. Therefore, as to

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these materials, the motion is GRANTED.

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Therefore, good cause appearing,

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1.

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The Court ORDERS the following to be SEALED:
a.

The second set of documents at issue in the Motion to Compel and

Determination of Privilege Claims, lodged with the Court;
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The Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to file this exhibit under seal.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: February 8, 2012
9j7khi

/s/ Jennifer L. Thurston
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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