Tevra Brands LLC v. Bayer HealthCare LLC

District Court, N.D. California·Decided June 26, 2024·No. 5:19-cv-04312·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 6 7 TEVRA BRANDS LLC, Case No. 19-cv-04312-BLF

8 Plaintiff, OMNIBUS MIL SEALING ORDER 9 v.

10 BAYER HEALTHCARE LLC, et al., [Re: ECF Nos. 366, 369, 375, 377, 379, 381, 383, 385] 11 Defendants.

12 13 Before the court are eight administrative motions filed in connection with the parties’ 14 motions in limine: 15 1. Administrative Motion to Consider Whether Another Party’s Material Should Be 16 Sealed. ECF No. 366. 17 2. Administrative Motion to File Under Seal. ECF No. 369. 18 3. Administrative Motion to Consider Whether Another Party’s Material Should Be 19 Sealed. ECF No. 375. 20 4. Administrative Motion to Consider Whether Another Party’s Material Should Be 21 Sealed. ECF No. 377. 22 5. Administrative Motion to Consider Whether Another Party’s Material Should Be 23 Sealed. ECF No. 379. 24 6. Administrative Motion to Consider Whether Another Party’s Material Should Be 25 Sealed. ECF No. 381. 26 7. Administrative Motion to Consider Whether Another Party’s Material Should Be 27 Sealed. ECF No. 383. 1 For the reasons described below, the Court rules as follows: the administrative motions at 2 ECF Nos. 369, 375, 377, and 379 are GRANTED; the administrative motions at ECF Nos. 366, 3 381, and 383 are GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART; the administrative motion at 4 ECF No. 385 is DENIED. 6 “Historically, courts have recognized a ‘general right to inspect and copy public records 7 and documents, including judicial records and documents.’” Kamakana v. City & Cty. Of 8 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 9 U.S. 589, 597 & n.7 (1978)). Accordingly, when considering a sealing request, “a ‘strong 10 presumption in favor of access’ is the starting point.” Id. (quoting Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. 11 Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003)). Parties seeking to seal judicial records relating to 12 motions that are “more than tangentially related to the underlying cause of action” bear the burden 13 of overcoming the presumption with “compelling reasons” that outweigh the general history of 14 access and the public policies favoring disclosure. Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., 809 F.3d 15 1092, 1099 (9th Cir. 2016); Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178–79. 16 Records attached to motions that are “not related, or only tangentially related, to the merits 17 of a case,” however, are not subject to the strong presumption of access. Ctr. for Auto Safety, 809 18 F.3d at 1099; see also Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 (“[T]he public has less of a need for access to 19 court records attached only to non-dispositive motions because those documents are often 20 unrelated, or only tangentially related, to the underlying cause of action.”). Parties moving to seal 21 the documents attached to such motions must meet the lower “good cause” standard of Rule 22 26(c). Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 (internal quotations and citations omitted). This standard 23 requires a “particularized showing,” id., that “specific prejudice or harm will result” if the 24 information is disclosed. Phillips ex rel. Estates of Byrd v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 25 1210–11 (9th Cir. 2002); see Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). “Broad allegations of harm, unsubstantiated 26 by specific examples of articulated reasoning” will not suffice. Beckman Indus., Inc. v. Int’l Ins. 27 Co., 966 F.2d 470, 476 (9th Cir. 1992). 2 A. ECF No. 366 3 Tevra filed the Administrative Motion to Consider Whether Another Party’s Material 4 Should Be Sealed on May 30, 2024. ECF No. 366. Bayer submitted a declaration. ECF No. 385- 5 1. Bayer seeks to seal selected portions of Motion in Limine No. 1 and its corresponding exhibits. 6 Id. ¶ 2. Bayer writes that the information should be sealed because it contains “competitively 7 sensitive business information relating to Bayer’s internal business strategy and practices, 8 including Bayer’s analysis of the flea and tick market and Bayer’s surveying practices and 9 methodology” and because the information has been “designated as either ‘Highly Confidential – 10 Attorneys’ Eyes Only’ or Confidential.’” Id. ¶ 3. Bayer argues that the portions are narrowly 11 tailored. Id. ¶ 6. 12 Except as noted below, the Court finds that good cause exists to seal the highlighted 13 portions of the document. Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179; see Finjan, Inc. v. Proofpoint, Inc., No. 14 13-CV-05808-HSG, 2016 WL 7911651, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 6, 2016) (finding “technical 15 operation of [defendant’s] products” sealable under “compelling reasons” standard); Exeltis USA 16 Inc. v. First Databank, Inc., No. 17-CV-04810-HSG, 2020 WL 2838812, at *1 (N.D. Cal. June 1, 17 2020) (noting that courts have found “confidential business information” in the form of “business 18 strategies” sealable under the compelling reasons standard.). The Court finds that the request is 19 narrowly tailored. Civ. L.R. 79-5(c)(3). 20 The Court’s ruling is summarized below:

21 ECF or Document Portion(s) to Ruling 22 Exhibit No. Seal ECF 366-1 Tevra’s Motion in Highlighted DENIED as to p. 5, line 8 as it is already 23 Limine No. 1 to portions at p. publicly disclosed. ECF No. 360 at 5:9. Exclude the Bayer- 5, lines 8, 13. 24 Commissioned GRANTED, as to p. 5, line 13 as it Consumer Study contains competitively sensitive 25 (“Tevra’s Motion in information relating to Bayer’s internal 26 Limine No. 1”) business strategy and practices. See ECF No. 385-1 ¶¶ 4-5. 27 ECF 366-3 McNally Decl. Ex. A Entire exhibit GRANTED as the cited document 1 (BAH000277771) contains competitively sensitive 2 information relating to Bayer’s internal business strategy and practices. See ECF 3 No. 385-1. ¶¶ 4-5. ECF 366-4 McNally Decl. Ex. B Entire exhibit GRANTED as the cited document 4 (BAH000225558) contains competitively sensitive information relating to Bayer’s internal 5 business strategy and practices. See ECF 6 No. 385-1¶¶ 4-5. ECF 366-5 McNally Decl. Ex. C Entire exhibit GRANTED as the cited document 7 (BAH000257273) contains competitively sensitive information relating to Bayer’s internal 8 business strategy and practices. See ECF No. 385-1 ¶¶ 4-5. 9 10 B. ECF No. 369 11 Bayer filed the Administrative Motion to File Under Seal on May 30, 2024. ECF No. 369. 12 Bayer seeks to seal selected portions of Bayer’s Motion in Limine No. 4 and Motion in Limine No. 13 5. ECF No. 369-1 ¶ 2. Bayer writes that the information should be sealed because, “if this 14 information were made public, competitors and counterparts would have insight into how Elanco, 15 as successor to Bayer HealthCare LLC, structures its business arrangements, allowing them to 16 modify their own business strategy.” Id. ¶ 5. Bayer argues that the portions are narrowly tailored. 17 Id. ¶ 7. 18 The Court finds that good cause exists to seal the highlighted portions of the documents. 19 Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179; see Finjan, Inc. v. Proofpoint, Inc., No. 13-CV-05808-HSG, 2016 20 WL 7911651, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 6, 2016) (finding “technical operation of [defendant’s] 21 products” sealable under “compelling reasons” standard); Exeltis USA Inc. v. First Databank, Inc., 22 No. 17-CV-04810-HSG, 2020 WL 2838812, at *1 (N.D. Cal. June 1, 2020) (noting that courts 23 have found “confidential business information” in the form of “business strategies” sealable under 24 the compelling reasons standard.). The Court finds that the request is narrowly tailored. Civ. L.R. 25 79-5(c)(3). 26 \\ 27 \\ 1 The Court’s ruling is summarized below:

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