TVIIM, LLC v. McAfee, Inc.

Filing 316

ORDER by Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. Granting 309 Administrative Motion to File Under Seal. (ndrS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 9/17/2015)

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1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 TVIIM, LLC, Case No. 13-cv-04545-HSG Plaintiff, 8 ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO SEAL v. 9 10 MCAFEE, INC., Re: Dkt. No. 309 Defendant. United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 Pending before the Court is Defendant McAfee, Inc.’s motion to seal portions of its reply 13 in support of its motion for attorneys’ fees and costs. Dkt. No. 309. No opposition to the motion 14 to seal was filed, and the time to do so has passed. 15 I. LEGAL STANDARD 16 “[A] ‘compelling reasons’ standard applies to most judicial records. This standard derives 17 from the common law right ‘to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial 18 records and documents.’” Pintos v. Pac. Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 678 (9th Cir. 2010) 19 (quoting Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 & n.7). “[A] ‘strong presumption in 20 favor of access’ is the starting point.” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 21 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th 22 Cir. 2003)). To overcome this strong presumption, the party seeking to seal a judicial record 23 related to a dispositive motion must “articulate compelling reasons supported by specific factual 24 findings that outweigh the general history of access and the public policies favoring disclosure, 25 such as the public interest in understanding the judicial process” and “significant public events.” 26 Id. at 1178-79 (internal citations, quotation marks, and alterations omitted). “In general, 27 ‘compelling reasons’ sufficient to outweigh the public’s interest in disclosure and justify sealing 28 court records exist when such ‘court files might have become a vehicle for improper purposes,’ 1 such as the use of records to gratify private spite, promote public scandal, circulate libelous 2 statements, or release trade secrets.” Id. at 1179 (citing Nixon, 435 U.S. at 598). “The mere fact 3 that the production of records may lead to a litigant’s embarrassment, incrimination, or exposure 4 to further litigation will not, without more, compel the court to seal its records.” Id. 5 The court must “balance the competing interests of the public and the party who seeks to 6 keep certain judicial records secret. After considering these interests, if the court decides to seal 7 certain judicial records, it must base its decision on a compelling reason and articulate the factual 8 basis for its ruling, without relying on hypothesis or conjecture.” Id. at 1179. Civil Local Rule 9 79-5 supplements the compelling reasons standard set forth in Kamakana: the party seeking to file a document or portions of it under seal must “establish[] that the document, or portions thereof, 11 United States District Court Northern District of California 10 are privileged, protectable as a trade secret or otherwise entitled to protection under the law. . . . 12 The request must be narrowly tailored to seek sealing only of sealable material.” Civil L.R. 79- 13 5(b). Records attached to nondispositive motions are not subject to the strong presumption of 14 15 access. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179. Because the documents attached to nondispositive 16 motions “are often unrelated, or only tangentially related, to the underlying cause of action,” 17 parties moving to seal must meet the lower “good cause” standard of Rule 26(c) of the Federal 18 Rules of Civil Procedure. Id. at 1179–80 (internal quotation marks omitted). The “good cause” 19 standard requires a “particularized showing” that “specific prejudice or harm will result” if the 20 information is disclosed. Phillips ex rel. Estates of Byrd v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 21 1210–11 (9th Cir. 2002) (internal quotation marks omitted); see Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). “Broad 22 allegations of harm, unsubstantiated by specific examples of articulated reasoning” will not 23 suffice. Beckman Indus., Inc. v. Int’l Ins. Co., 966 F.2d 470, 476 (9th Cir. 1992). Because Defendant’s motion for attorneys’ fees and costs is a nondispositive motion, the 24 25 26 Court applies the “good cause” standard to the pending motion to seal. II. DISCUSSION 27 Defendant seeks to file under seal certain portions of its reply brief that reference 28 information already sealed by this Court. See Dkt. No. 300. The Court agrees that the proposed 2 1 redactions related to Defendant’s counsel’s fee arrangements contain sealable material. The Court 2 further finds that the proposed redactions are “narrowly tailored” to seal only sealable material, as 3 required by Civil Local Rule 79-5. The Court therefore GRANTS Defendant’s motion to seal the 4 proposed redactions on page 15 of Defendant’s reply brief. Within four days of the date of this 5 Order, Defendant shall file under seal the unredacted version of its reply in support of its motion 6 for attorney’s fees and costs. 7 8 9 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: September 17, 2015 ______________________________________ HAYWOOD S. GILLIAM, JR. United States District Judge United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3

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