Thompson Automotive Labs, LLC v. Illinois Tool Works, Inc.

Filing 149

ORDER granting 146 Consent Motion to Seal Document - Signed by District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan on 2/23/2018. (Tripp, S.)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
WESTERN DIVISION
No. 5:15-CV-00282-FL
THOMPSON AUTOMOTIVE LABS, INC.,
Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant,
ORDER ON DEFENDANT’S
CONSENT MOTION TO SEAL

v.
ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC.,
Defendant/Counter-Plaintiff

This matter is before the Court on Defendant’s Consent Motion to Seal (“Motion”). After
considering the Motion and supporting memorandum, the Court grants the Motion.
Specifically, the Court finds that Defendant has demonstrated that Plaintiff’s Response in
Opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order (“Plaintiff’s Response”) and Exhibit 1 to
Plaintiff’s Response contain highly confidential, proprietary business information that merits
protection under the Court’s Amended Protective Order, the disclosure of which would result in
competitive harm to Defendant’s business; that the information at issue is not filed in connection
with a dispositive motion and thus will not play a role in adjudicating the substantive rights of
the parties at this time; that Defendant’s interest in maintaining confidentiality overcomes any
presumption of public access under the First Amendment or common law; and that the public has
not expressed any interest in the information at issue, and no party has objected to maintaining
the documents under seal.
In addition, Defendant has further limited the amount of information that is not publicly
available by submitting redacted versions of Plaintiff’s Response and Exhibit 1 to Plaintiff’s
Response as an alternative to sealing them in their entirety.

Accordingly, it is ordered that Plaintiff’s Response and Exhibit 1 to Plaintiff’s Response
filed provisionally under seal shall remain under seal. The redacted version of Plaintiff’s
Response and Exhibit 1 to Plaintiff’s Response shall be filed in the public record.

February
This the23rd day of ___________, 2018.
__

LOUISE W. FLANAGAN
United States District Judge