Finisar Corporation v. Nistica, Inc.

Filing 721

ORDER GRANTING 717 , 718 DEFENDANT NISTICA, INC.'S ADMINISTRATIVE MOTIONS TO SEAL. Signed by Judge Beth Labson Freeman on 1/30/2017. (patentlcsjS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 1/30/2017)

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1 2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 5 SAN JOSE DIVISION 6 7 FINISAR CORPORATION, Case No. 13-cv-03345-BLF Plaintiff, 8 v. 9 10 NISTICA, INC., Defendant. ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT NISTICA, INC.'S ADMINISTRATIVE MOTIONS TO SEAL [Re: ECF 717, 718] United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 Before the Court are two administrative motions to file under seal certain portions of the 13 14 Court’s Order Regarding Post-Judgment Motions and the transcript of the November 16, 2016 15 hearing that was held in connection therewith. ECF 717, 718. For the reasons stated below, the 16 motions are GRANTED. 17 18 I. LEGAL STANDARD “Historically, courts have recognized a ‘general right to inspect and copy public records 19 and documents, including judicial records and documents.’” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of 20 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 21 U.S. 589, 597 & n.7 (1978)). Consequently, access to motions and their attachments that are 22 “more than tangentially related to the merits of a case” may be sealed only upon a showing of 23 “compelling reasons” for sealing. Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 24 1101-02 (9th Cir. 2016). Filings that are only tangentially related to the merits may be sealed 25 upon a lesser showing of “good cause.” Id. at 1097. In addition, sealing motions filed in this 26 district must be “narrowly tailored to seek sealing only of sealable material.” Civil L.R. 79-5(b). 27 A party moving to seal a document in whole or in part must file a declaration establishing that the 28 identified material is “sealable.” Civ. L.R. 79-5(d)(1)(A). “Reference to a stipulation or 1 protective order that allows a party to designate certain documents as confidential is not sufficient 2 to establish that a document, or portions thereof, are sealable.” Id. 3 II. DISCUSSION The Court has reviewed Nistica’s sealing motions and the declarations that it, as the 4 5 designating party, has submitted in support. The Court finds that Nistica has articulated 6 compelling reasons and good cause to seal certain portions of the submitted documents. The 7 proposed redactions are also narrowly tailored. The Court’s rulings on the sealing requests are set 8 forth in the tables below: 9 10 United States District Court Northern District of California 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 A. ECF 717 Identification of Description of Documents Documents to be Sealed November 16, 2016 Highlighted portions on pages 10-20, 23-25, 27-30, Hearing Transcript 34, 38-43, 49, 50, and 52-54 contain confidential, trade secret, and proprietary product information relating to the structure, design, and operation of Nistica’s accused products and its engineering practices, which could cause significant harm to Nistica if disclosed to the public B. ECF 718 Identification of Description of Documents Documents to be Sealed Order Regarding Highlighted portions on pages 8-10, 12-18, and 21Post-Judgment 23 contain confidential, trade secret, and proprietary Motions product information relating to the structure, design, and operation Nistica’s accused products and its engineering practices, which could cause significant harm to Nistica if disclosed to the public III. Court’s Order GRANTED Court’s Order GRANTED ORDER 23 For the foregoing reasons, the sealing motions at ECF 717 and 718 are GRANTED. 24 IT IS SO ORDERED. 25 26 27 28 Dated: January 30, 2017 ______________________________________ BETH LABSON FREEMAN United States District Judge 2

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