Obalon Therapeutics, Inc.

Filing 5

ORDER granting 2 Motion to Seal 1 MOTION (Petition) to Perpetuate Testimony Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 27 - Signed by District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan on 2/3/2017. (Baker, C.)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
EASTERN DIVISION
No.
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OBALON THERAPEUTICS, INC.,
Petitioner,

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ORDER

This matter is before the Court on Petitioner's Motion for Leave to File Under Seal a
Petition to Perpetuate Testimony Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 27. The public has
been given advance notice of the parties' request to seal these materials, and the Motion was
docketed well in advance of this Court's decision on the Motion. See In re Knight Pub! 'g Co.,
743 F.2d 231 (4th Cir. 1984). No objection has been lodged on the docket to maintaining these
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documents under seal. Accordingly, the issues raised in this Motion are now ripe for disposition.
For good cause shown, the Motion is ALLOWED.
Because the documents sought to be sealed do not relate to a dispositive motion, they are
subject to a common law right of access by the public. See Stone v. Univ. ofMd Med Sys. Corp.,
855 F.2d 178, 180 (4th Cir. 1988). This common law right of access may only be overcome by
demonstrating that "countervailing interests heavily outweigh the public interests in access." Va.

Dep't of State Police v. Wash. Post, 386 F.3d 567,575 (4th Cir. 2004) (quoting Rushfordv. New
Yorker Magazine, Inc., 846 F.2d 249,253 (4th Cir. 1988)).
The document sought to be sealed discloses an individual's private medical information:
and non-public, commercially sensitive information about Obalon's business. The Court finds

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the justification behind sealing this information heavily outweighs the public interest in access,
particularly in light of no objection from the public and the fact that the public has not already
had access to the information contained in the records.
SO ORDERED, this_ day of _ _ _ _ _ _ , 2017.
3rd
February

U.S. District Court Judge

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