Blendtec v. Blendjet

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION BLENDTEC INC., a Utah corporation, MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER GRANTING Plaintiff, BLENDJET INC.’S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE DOCUMENTS vs. UNDER SEAL BLENDJET, INC., a Delaware corporation, Civil No. 2:21-cv-00668-TC-DBP Defendant. Judge Tena Campbell Chief Magistrate Judge Dustin B. Pead Defendant BlendJet Inc. moves to maintain under seal certain documents. (ECF No. 160.) BlendJet provides specific reasons asserting they establish good cause for maintaining the documents under seal. For example, BlendJet avers that certain documents contain “confidential personal and financial information” while others contain “information that may cause competitive harm to BlendJet if disclosed.” (ECF No. 160 p. 5.) “The records of the court are presumptively open to the public,” and sealing court documents is “highly discouraged.” DUCivR 5-3(a)(1). The right of access to judicial records, however, is not absolute. Colony Ins. Co. v. Burke, 698 F.3d 1222, 1241 (10th Cir. 2012). “[T]he presumption in favor of access to judicial records may be overcome where countervailing interests heavily outweigh the public interests in access.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). “The burden is on the party seeking to restrict access to show some significant interest that outweighs the presumption.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). Here the court finds BlendJet has provided good cause to maintain the documents under seal as set forth in the motion. There are countervailing interests that outweigh the public interest instructed to file redacted copies of any documents, where applicable, in accordance with the Local Rules.

DATED this 26 June 2023.

DustywfB-Pe United Stages Mag}strate Judge