Valeo Schalter und Sensoren GmbH v. NVIDIA Corporation

Opinion

1 2 3 7 8 VALEO SCHALTER UND SENSOREN Case No. 23-cv-05721-EKL (VKD) GMBH, 9 Plaintiff, ORDER SEALING DOCUMENTS 10 v. Re: Dkt. No. 192 11 NVIDIA CORPORATION, 12 Defendant.

13 14 On January 11, 2025, plaintiff Valeo Schalter und Sensoren GMBH (“Valeo”) filed an 15 administrative motion to consider whether defendant NVIDIA Corporation’s (“NVIDIA”) 16 material should be sealed. Dkt. No. 192. On January 17, 2025, NVIDIA filed a declaration in 17 support of sealing pursuant to Local Rule 79-5(f)(3). Dkt. No. 197. 18 There is a strong presumption in favor of access by the public to judicial records and 19 documents accompanying dispositive motions that can be overcome only by a showing of 20 “compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings.” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of 21 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-79 (9th Cir. 2006) (cleaned up). However, the presumption does 22 not apply equally to a motion addressing matters that are only “tangentially related to the merits of 23 a case.” Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Group, LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1101 (9th Cir. 2016). A 24 party seeking to seal documents or information in connection with such a motion must meet the 25 lower “good cause” standard of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). Id. at 1098-99; Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 26 1179-80. The discovery matters at issue here do not address the merits of either party’s claims or 27 defenses, so the Court applies the “good cause” standard of Rule 26(c). 1 business information that, if revealed, could cause competitive harm to NVIDIA. Dkt. No. 197 at 2 2. NVIDIA asserts that in particular many of the portions for which it seeks sealing reference “a 3 confidential partnership that NVIDIA has not yet publicly announced.” Id. at 3, 5-7. 4 The Court agrees that good cause exists to seal the information NVIDIA has designated 5 within these documents. The redactions proposed to the public versions of these documents are 6 minimal and narrowly tailored to address the concerns it identifies. See Civil L.R. 79-5(c)(3). The 7 following materials shall be sealed: 8 Document Portions to be Filed Under Seal 9 Joint Status Report re 30(b)(6) Dispute Portions of the document as redacted by NVIDIA in 10 (Dkt. No. 191) Exhibit A (Dkt. No. 197-1) to the Declaration of Michael LaFond (Dkt. No. 197) 11 Exhibit 1 (Dkt. No. 191-1) Portions of the document as redacted by NVIDIA in 12 Exhibit B (Dkt. No. 197-2) to the Declaration of 13 Michael LaFond (Dkt. No. 197) 14 Exhibit 2 (Dkt. No. 191-2) Portions of the document as redacted by NVIDIA in Exhibit C (Dkt. No. 197-3) to the Declaration of 15 Michael LaFond (Dkt. No. 197) 16 Exhibit 3 (Dkt. No. 191-3) Portions of the document as redacted by NVIDIA in 17 Exhibit D (Dkt. No. 197-4) to the Declaration of Michael LaFond (Dkt. No. 197) 18 Exhibit 5 (Dkt. No. 191-5) Entire Document 19 Exhibit 6 (Dkt. No. 191-6) Entire Document 20 Exhibit 8 (Dkt. No. 191-8) Portions of the document as redacted by NVIDIA in 21 Exhibit E (Dkt. No. 197-5) to the Declaration of 22 Michael LaFond (Dkt. No. 197) 23 Exhibit 9 (Dkt. No. 191-9) Entire Document 24 Exhibit 10 (Dkt. No. 191-10) Portions of the document as redacted by NVIDIA in Exhibit F (Dkt. No. 197-6) to the Declaration of 25 Michael LaFond (Dkt. No. 197) 26 Exhibit 11 (Dkt. No. 191-11) Portions of the document as redacted by NVIDIA in 27 Exhibit G (Dkt. No. 197-7) to the Declaration of Michael LaFond (Dkt. No. 197) ] Exhibit 13 (Dkt. No. 191-13) Portions of the document as redacted by NVIDIA in Exhibit H (Dkt. No. 197-8) to the Declaration of 2 Michael LaFond (Dkt. No. 197) 3 Publicly redacted versions of the above are already available on the docket. NVIDIA has 4 also asserted that it does not seek to seal Exhibits 4, 7, and 12 to the joint report — the sealed 5 versions of which are on the docket at 192-7, 192-10, and 192-15. Dkt. No. 197 at 7. In view of 6 NVIDIA’s statements, Valeo is ordered to file publicly on the docket the unredacted versions of 7 these exhibits. ? Dated: January 29, 2025 10 ll Usiagiin K OA, 12 Virginia K. DeMarchi United States Magistrate Judge 13 14

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