Opinion
24-mc-80157-VKD
08-08-2024
IN RE SUBPOENA TO POWER INTEGRATIONS, INC. v. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. ET AL, Defendants. COGNIPOWER LLC, Plaintiff, Document Portion to Be Sealed
Issuing Court Case No. 2:23-cv-00160-JRG (E.D. Tex.)
ORDER RE COGNIPOWER'S ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO SEAL
RE: DKT. NOS. 11, 14
Virginia K.DeMarchi United States Magistrate Judge
CogniPower LLC (“CogniPower”) filed an administrative motion to seal portions of documents filed concurrently with its reply in support of its motion to compel Power Integrations, Inc.'s (“Power Integrations”) compliance with a document subpoena (Dkt. No. 1). Dkt. No. 11. The motion requests partial sealing of the Supplemental Declaration of Jennifer Hayes and full sealing of Exhibit S attached to that declaration. Power Integrations has filed a declaration in support of this sealing motion. Dkt. No. 14.
There is a strong presumption in favor of access by the public to judicial records and documents accompanying dispositive motions that can be overcome only by a showing of “compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings.” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-79 (9th Cir. 2006) (cleaned up). However, the presumption does not apply equally to a motion addressing matters that are only “tangentially related to the merits of a case.” Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Group, LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1101 (9th Cir. 2016). A party seeking to seal documents or information in connection with such a motion must meet the lower “good cause” standard of Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c). Id. at 1098-99; Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179-80. The discovery matters at issue here do not address the merits of either party's claims or defenses, so the Court applies the “good cause” standard of Rule 26(c).
In its motion, CogniPower asserts that the information it is seeking to seal has been designated as “Attorneys' Eyes Only” under a Protective Order filed in the underlying action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, CogniPower LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al., Case No. 2:23-cv-00160-JRG. Dkt. No. 11 at 1. CogniPower “does not admit that this information was properly designated” but defers to Power Integrations to file a declaration supporting the sealing. Id. In its supporting declaration, Power Integrations asserts that the documents at issue “contain[] confidential and proprietary information” relating to “the development of its power supply controller chips, including details regarding features and functionality of the chips” as well as “information regarding its integrated circuit chips, including which chips correspond to PI's detailed schematics.” Dkt. No. 14 at 2-3. Power Integrations states that it maintains this detailed information “regarding the inner workings of PI's products” as confidential and that reveal of this information would cause competitive harm. Id.
The Court agrees that good cause exists to seal the designated portions of the Hayes Supplemental Declaration. The redactions proposed to the public version of this document are minimal and narrowly tailored to address the concerns identified. See Civil L.R. 79-5(c)(3). The Court also agrees that good cause exists to seal portions of Exhibit S but does not agree that the exhibit should be sealed in its entirety. Exhibit S consists of emails exchanged between counsel for the parties, but the sensitive information Power Integrations describes appears only in a chart in the earliest of the three emails in the chain. In these circumstances, the Court concludes that good cause has been demonstrated to seal the following material as modified and the Court orders that it be sealed:
Document
Portion to Be Sealed
Supplemental Declaration of Jennifer Hayes in support of the Reply in support of the Motion to Enforce Out of District Subpoena to Power Integrations
Paragraph 12
Exhibit S to the Supplemental Declaration
Chart at ECF 3, Dkt. No. 11-4
A redacted version of the supplemental declaration is already available on the public docket. See Dkt. No. 12-1. However, Exhibit S is currently filed entirely under seal. Dkt. No. 124. Accordingly, CogniPower is directed to refile Exhibit S partially redacted as designated above.
IT IS SO ORDERED.