Opinion
3:18-cv-02409-BEN-DEB
11-16-2021
INDECT USA CORP., a Texas corporation, Plaintiff, v. PARK ASSIST, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, Defendant. PARK ASSIST, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, Counterclaimant, v. INDECT USA CORP., a Texas corporation, Counterdefendant.
ORDER GRANTING MOTIONS TO FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL [ECF NOS. 141, 186]
HON. ROGER T. BENITEZ, United States District Judge.
Concurrent with the Parties' briefing on the previously decided Motion for Summary Judgment and Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 195), Defendants moved to file documents under seal. The portions of motions sought to be sealed contain, reference, or discuss commercially sensitive and proprietary business data. These documents have been previously designated “Confidential” or “Confidential - Attorneys' Eyes Only, ” pursuant to the Protective Order issued in this case. See ECF No. 43.
“[Compelling reasons sufficient to outweigh the public's interest in disclosure and justify sealing court records exist when such court files might . . . become a vehicle for improper purposes, such as the use of records to . . . release trade secrets.” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1179 (9th Cir. 2006). A “trade secret may consist of any formula, pattern, device or compilation of information which is used in one's business, and which gives him an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not know or use it.” The Court can seal proprietary information to protect a business from potential harm. See Obesity Research Institute, LLC v. Fiber Research International, LLC, No. 15-CV-00595-BAS-MDD, 2017 WL 6270268, at *2 (S.D. Cal. Dec. 8, 2017) (granting motion to file documents containing proprietary business information under seal).
Accordingly, the motions to seal are granted. Redacted versions of the aforementioned documents have been filed on the public docket. The Clerk is directed to file unredacted versions of the documents and exhibits lodged at Docket Numbers 142 and 187 under seal.
IT IS SO ORDERED.