Custom Led, LLC v. eBay, Inc et al

Filing 83

ORDER GRANTING MOTIONS TO SEAL 78 80 . Signed by District Judge Jon S. Tigar. (jstlc3S, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 11/1/2013)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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CUSTOM LED, LLC,

Case No. 12-cv-00350-JST

Plaintiff,
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v.

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO
SEAL

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EBAY, INC, et al.,

Re: ECF Nos. 78, 80

Defendants.

United States District Court
Northern District of California

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A joint motion for preliminary approval of a proposed settlement is pending in this

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putative class action for breach of contract and related claims. Plaintiff Custom LED moves to

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seal certain portions of the brief and the Verges Declaration filed in support of the motion for

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preliminary approval of the proposed settlement. ECF No. 78. Defendant eBay, the party who

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designated the materials at issue as confidential under a protective order, filed a declaration

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establishing that the designated information is sealable. ECF No. 80.

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The information subject to sealing includes financial and performance metrics regarding

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Featured Plus!, the product giving rise to the claims at issue in this action. eBay argues that this

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information is confidential, proprietary, and has competitive value. In the declaration filed in

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support of sealing, eBay states that disclosure of this information would cause it to suffer

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economic harm “by giving competitors insight into confidential and sensitive information about

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eBay’s internal business decision making related to the optional features, pricing, monetization,

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and revenue modeling.” Hsu Decl. ¶ 9, ECF No. 80.

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A party seeking to seal a document filed with the court must (1) comply with Civil Local

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Rule 79–5; and (2) rebut the “a strong presumption in favor of access” that applies to all

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documents other than grand jury transcripts or pre-indictment warrant materials. Kamakana v.

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City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir.2006) (citation and internal quotation

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marks omitted).
With respect to the second element, the showing required for overcoming the strong

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presumption of access depends on the type of motion to which the document is attached. When a

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party seeks to file materials in connection with a dispositive motion, the presumption can be

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overcome only if the party presents “compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings

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that outweigh the general history of access and the public policies favoring disclosure.” Id. at

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1178–79 (internal citation omitted). On the other hand, when a party seeks to file previously

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sealed discovery materials in connection with a non-dispositive motion, the sealing party need not

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meet the ‘compelling reasons’ standard “because those documents are often unrelated, or only
tangentially related, to the underlying cause of action.” Id. at 1179 (citation and internal quotation

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United States District Court
Northern District of California

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marks omitted).

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Here, the compelling reasons standard applies to the motion to seal at issue, because the

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motion was filed in connection with a motion for preliminary approval of a class action settlement,

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which effectively is case dispositive. The Court concludes that the Hsu Declaration has

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sufficiently established “compelling reasons” for sealing the information at issue, and that eBay

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has established that the request to seal is narrowly tailored in accordance with Civil Local Rule 79-

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5. Accordingly, the motion to seal is GRANTED.

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The Court notes, however, that if it grants the motion for preliminary approval of a class

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action settlement and conditionally certifies the proposed class for settlement purposes only, any

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member of the settlement class may move for access to the sealed information on the ground that

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such information is necessary to determine the reasonableness of the proposed settlement.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: November 1, 2013
______________________________________
JON S. TIGAR
United States District Judge

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