ImprimisRx, LLC v. OSRX, Inc.

District Court, S.D. California·Decided March 25, 2024·No. 3:21-cv-01305·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA IMPRIMISRX, LLC, Case No. 21-cv-01305-BAS-DDL Plaintiff,

ORDER: v.

(1) GRANTING THE PARTIES’ JOINT MOTION TO FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL (ECF OSRX, INC.; OCULAR SCIENCE, INC., No. 245);

Defendants. (2) GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL ATTACHED TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO EXCLUDE DEFENDANTS’ EXPERT (ECF No. 248);

AND

(3) GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL ATTACHED TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT (ECF No. 251)

Before the Court are three motions by the parties to file documents under seal. (ECF Nos. 245, 248, 251.) Plaintiff ImprimisRx, LLC and Defendants OSRX, Inc. and Ocular Science, Inc. submit a renewed motion to file documents under seal in support of Defendants’ Daubert motion to exclude Plaintiff’s experts. (ECF No. 245.) Defendants also file a renewed motion to file documents under seal in support of Plaintiff’s Daubert motion to exclude Defendants’ expert. (ECF No. 248.) Plaintiff does not oppose this motion. Finally, Defendants file a renewed motion to seal documents in support of Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment and Plaintiff’s opposition to Defendants’ motion for summary judgment. (ECF No. 251.) Plaintiff opposes portions of this motion. (ECF No. 256.) These motions come after the Court denied the parties’ previous attempts to file documents under seal. (ECF Nos. 234, 236.) For the reasons stated below, the Court GRANTS the parties’ joint motion to file documents under seal in support of Defendants’ Daubert motion to exclude Plaintiff’s experts (ECF No. 245), GRANTS Defendants’ motion to file documents under seal in support of Plaintiff’s Daubert motion to exclude Defendants’ expert (ECF No. 248), and GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART Defendants’ motion to file documents under seal related to Plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment and Plaintiff’s opposition to Defendants’ motion for partial summary judgment (ECF No. 251). “[T]he courts of this country recognize a general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records and documents.” Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 (1978). “Unless a particular court record is one ‘traditionally kept secret,’ a ‘strong presumption in favor of access’ is the starting point.” Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (citing Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003)). “The presumption of access is ‘based on the need for federal courts, although independent—indeed, particularly because they are independent—to have a measure of accountability and for the public to have confidence in the administration of justice.’” Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096 (9th Cir. 2016) (quoting United States v. Amodeo, 71 F.3d 1044, 1048 (2d Cir. 1995)). A party seeking to seal a judicial record bears the burden of overcoming the strong presumption of access. Foltz, 331 F.3d at 1135. The showing required to meet this burden depends upon whether the documents to be sealed relate to a motion that is “more than tangentially related to the merits of the case.” Ctr. for Auto Safety, 809 F.3d at 1102. When the underlying motion is more than tangentially related to the merits, the “compelling reasons” standard applies. Id. at 1096–98. When the underlying motion does not surpass the tangential relevance threshold, the “good cause” standard applies. Id. Evidentiary motions, including Daubert motions, are often “strongly correlative to the merits of the case” and warrant the application of the “compelling reasons” standard. Ctr. for Auto Safety, 809 F.3d at 1099. “In general, ‘compelling reasons’ sufficient to outweigh the public’s interest in disclosure and justify sealing court records exist when such ‘court files might have become a vehicle for improper purposes,’ such as the use of records to gratify private spite, promote public scandal, circulate libelous statements, or release trade secrets.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 (quoting Nixon, 435 U.S. at 598). As to this last category, courts have been willing to seal court filings containing confidential business material, “such as marketing strategies, product development plans, licensing agreements, and profit, cost, and margin data,” where the parties have been able to point to concrete factual information to justify sealing. See, e.g., Cohen v. Trump, No. 13-cv-2519-GPC-WVG, 2016 WL 3036302, at *5 (S.D. Cal. May 27, 2016). However, “[t]he mere fact that the production of records may lead to a litigant’s embarrassment, incrimination, or exposure to further litigation will not, without more, compel the court to seal its records.” Kamakana, 447 at 1179. A blanket protective order is not itself sufficient to show “good cause,” let alone compelling reasons, for sealing particular documents. See Foltz, 331 F.3d at 1133; San Jose Mercury News, Inc. v. U.S. District Court, N. Dist., 187 F.3d 1096, 1103 (9th Cir. 1999). The decision to seal documents is “one best left to the sound discretion of the trial court” upon consideration of “the relevant facts and circumstances of the particular case.” Nixon, 435 U.S. at 599. In addition, parties moving to seal documents must comply with the procedures set forth in this Court’s standing order for filing documents under seal. See Standing Order of the Hon. Cynthia Bashant for Civil Cases ¶5. The rule permits sealing to “only those documents, or portions thereof, necessary to protect such sensitive information.” Id. Thus, although sometimes it may be appropriate to seal a document in its entirety, whenever possible a party must redact. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1183 (noting a preference for redactions so long as they “have the virtue of being limited and clear”); Murphy v. Kavo Am. Corp., No. 11–cv–00410–YGR, 2012 WL 1497489, at *2–3 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 27, 2012) (denying motion to seal exhibits but directing parties to redact confidential information). A. The Parties’ Joint Motion to Seal In their joint motion to seal, Plaintiff and Defendants seek leave to file under seal portions of the Expert Report of Robert Wunderlich (“Wunderlich Report”) in support of Defendants’ Daubert motion to exclude Plaintiff’s experts. (ECF No. 245.) Specifically, the parties seek leave to file schedules A1–C1 of the Wunderlich Report under seal. (Id.) Defendants’ Daubert motion is more than tangentially related to the merits of the underlying dispute. Ctr. for Auto Safety, 809 F.3d at 1099. Therefore, the parties’ motion to seal is subject to the “compelling reasons” standard. In support of the motion to seal, the parties aver that because Defendants are privately held and the schedules of the Wunderlich Report contain internal financial information that is not otherwise publicly available, the schedules should remain confidential. (ECF No. 245 at 2.) A privately held business’s need for confidentiality with respect to sensitive business information is a compelling reason justifying sealing. See, e.g., Cohen, 2016 WL 3036302, at *5. The Court previously denied Defendants’ request to seal the entirety of the Wunderlich Report because portions of the report contained non-sensitive information such as the expert’s methodology or citations. (ECF No. 234.) In their renewed motion to seal, the parties have tailored their request to seal to only the portions of the Wunderlich Report that contain sensitive and private financial information. Accordingly, the parties’ joint motion to seal is granted. B. Defendants’ Motion to Seal Document

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ImprimisRx, LLC v. OSRX, Inc., (S.D. Cal. 2024).

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