Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC v. Atticus, LLC

Filing 434

ORDER granting #378 Motion to Seal Document. Signed by US Magistrate Judge Kimberly A. Swank on 1/10/2022. (Sellers, N.)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
WESTERN DIVISION
No. 5:19-CV-509-D
SYNGENTA CROP PROTECTION, LLC,
Plaintiff,
v.
ATTICUS, LLC,
Defendant.

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ORDER

This matter is before the court on Plaintiff’s unopposed motion to seal portions
of Defendant’s Appeal of Order Denying Defendant’s Second, Sixth, Seventh, and
Eighth Motions to Compel Discovery and Plaintiff’s Response thereto. Plaintiff seeks
to seal this information on the ground the filings “contain or reference sensitive
business and technical information concerning Syngenta’s strategies on generic
competition, its patent portfolio, and evaluating potential illegal azoxystrobin
product and potential infringement of an enforcement of its intellectual property.”
(Mot. Seal [DE #378] at 1.) Plaintiff has filed proposed redacted versions of the filings,
omitting the portions it contends should not be available to the public.
For the reasons set forth in Plaintiff’s motion and supporting memorandum,
the court finds that the public’s common law right of access is outweighed by
Plaintiff’s interests in protecting against competitive and/or financial harm to
Plaintiff were such information made public. In re Knight Publ’g Co., 743 F.2d 231
(4th Cir. 1984). Public notice of Plaintiff’s request to seal and a reasonable

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opportunity to object have been provided by the filing of its motion, and no objections
have been filed with the court. Plaintiff has narrowly tailored its request to remove
only information that is sensitive and confidential and not otherwise publicly known.
Plaintiff’s motion is therefore allowed.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Plaintiff’s Motion to Seal [DE #378] is GRANTED
and it is ORDERED that Defendant’s Appeal of Order Denying Defendant’s Second,
Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Motions to Compel Discovery [DE #367] and Plaintiff’s
Response thereto [DE #377] be SEALED. Redacted versions of these filings are
available to the public on the court’s docket at DE ##379-3 and 379-4.
This 10th day of January 2022.
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KIMBERLY A. SWANK
LY
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United States Magistrate Judge

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