WeRide Corp. v. Huang

District Court, N.D. California·Decided October 7, 2019·No. 5:18-cv-07233·Unknown

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 3 SAN JOSE DIVISION 4 WERIDE CORP., et al., 5 Case No. 5:18-cv-07233-EJD Plaintiffs, 6 ORDER RE ADMINISTRATIVE v. MOTIONS TO FILE UNDER SEAL 7 KUN HUANG, et al., Re: Dkt. Nos. 184, 186, 189, 199, 209, 216, 8 Defendants. 217, 218, 258, 303 9

10 The parties have filed administrative motions to file under seal in connection with 11 WeRide’s Motion for Leave to File an Amended Complaint, the Second Amended Complaint, 12 Defendant Huang’s Answer, and the Motion to Modify the Preliminary Injunction. Having 13 considered the parties’ papers, the materials sought to be sealed and the law, the court now 14 addresses these motions. 15 U.S. courts recognize that the public has “a general right to inspect and copy public records 16 and documents, including judicial records and documents.” Whitewater W. Indus., Ltd. v. Pac. 17 Surf Designs, Inc., 2019 WL 1590470, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Apr. 12, 2019) (quoting Nixon v. Warner 18 Communications, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 (1978)). “When considering a sealing request, ‘a strong 19 presumption in favor of access is the starting point.’” Space Data Corp. v. Alphabet Inc., 2019 20 WL 2305278, at *1 (N.D. Cal. May 30, 2019) (quoting Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 21 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006)). This right is not absolute though. Whitewater W. Indus., 2019 WL 1590470, at *1 (quoting 22 Nixon, 434 U.S. at 598). In order to seal judicial records that are “more than tangentially related to 23 the underlying cause of action,” the moving party must show “compelling reasons” that outweigh 24 the presumption in favor of disclosure. Space Data, 2019 WL 2305278, at *1 (citing Ctr. for Auto 25 Safety v. Chrysler Grp., 809 F.3d 1092, 1099 (9th Cir. 2016)). Courts applying the compelling 26 reasons standard have upheld the sealing of trade secrets, marketing strategies, product 27 1 development plans, detailed product-specific financial information, customer information, internal 2 reports and other such materials that could harm a party’s competitive standing. See, e.g., In re 3 Elec. Arts, Inc., 298 F. App’x 568, 569 (9th Cir. 2008); Opperman v. Path, Inc., 2017 WL 4 1036652, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 17, 2017); Lucas v. Breg, Inc., 2016 WL 5464549, at *1 (S.D. Cal. 5 Sept. 28, 2016); Rodman v. Safeway Inc., 2015 WL 13673842 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 4, 2015). 6 To meet the compelling reasons standard, the moving party must provide “specific factual 7 findings that outweigh the general history of access and the public policies favoring disclosure.” Opperman, 2017 WL 1036652, at *1. “Broad allegations of harm, unsubstantiated by specific 8 examples of articulated reasoning” will not carry the compelling standards burden. Space Data, 9 2019 WL 2305278, at *1 (quoting Beckman Indus., Inc. v. Int’l Ins. Co., 966 F.2d 470, 476 (9th 10 Cir. 1992)). “There fact that the production of records may lead to a litigant’s embarrassment, 11 incrimination, or exposure to further litigation will not, without more, compel the court to seal its 12 records.” Lucas, 2016 WL 5464549, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Sept. 28, 2016) (quoting Kamakana, 447 13 F.3d at 1179). Mere designation of a document as confidential under a protective order is not 14 sufficient to establish that said document, or portions thereof, are sealable. Civil L.R. 79- 15 5(d)(1)(A). 16 The court finds that the compelling reasons standard applies to all of the instant motions to 17 file under seal because their underlying subject matters are “more than tangentially” related to the 18 underlying cause of action. Space Data, 2019 WL 2305278, at *1; see also Ctr. for Auto Safety, 19 809 F.3d 1101. 20 I. Docket No. 209 21 WeRide’s Second Amended Complaint contains material designated as Confidential or 22 Highly Confidential – Attorney’s Eyes Only by ZZX, AllRide, and Huang. ZZX and AllRide 23 filed a declaration in support of sealing portions of the designated material, but Huang did not. 24 Civil L.R. 79-5(e). The court finds that no material in the Second Amended Complaint warrants 25 sealing. The designating parties proposed sealing certain lines of paragraphs 128 and 129, but 26 those paragraphs concern the relationship between Huang, ZZX, and ZKA, which goes to the 27 allegations underlying the litigation. Accordingly, the Motion to File Under Seal Portions of the 1 Second Amended Complaint is denied in its entirety. 2 II. Docket No. 216 WeRide’s Motion for Leave to File Second Amended Complaint contains material 3 designated as Confidential or Highly Confidential – Attorney’s Eyes Only by ZZX, AllRide, and 4 Huang. ZZX and AllRide filed a declaration in support of sealing portions of the designated 5 material, but Huang did not. Civil L.R. 79-5(e). ZZX and AllRide only seek to seal portions of 6 Exhibit E and Exhibit I of the LaFond Declaration. The court denies the motion as to Exhibit E 7 because that material goes to the relationship between ZZX and AllRide, which concerns the 8 underlying allegations of the lawsuit. However, the court grants the motion as to Exhibit I page 9 32, lines 18 and 22 because ZZX and AllRide have shown compelling reasons for sealing. The 10 motion is otherwise denied. 11 III. Docket No. 217 12 WeRide’s Motion to Modify the Preliminary Injunction contains material designated as 13 Confidential or Highly Confidential – Attorney’s Eyes Only by ZZX, AllRide, Huang and Wang. 14 ZZX, AllRide, and Wang filed declarations in support of sealing portions of the designated 15 material, but Huang did not. Civil L.R. 79-5(e). The court rules as follows: 16 Portions Sought to Be Filed Document Result Under Seal 17 WeRide’s Motion to Portions Highlighted in Yellow Denied. No designating party 18 Modify the Preliminary at 1:2-6 supports sealing this material. Injunction 19 WeRide’s Motion to Portions Highlighted in Yellow Denied. No designating party 20 Modify the Preliminary at 1:26-2:3 supports sealing this material. Injunction 21 22 WeRide’s Motion to Portions Highlighted in Blue at Denied. This material goes to the Modify the Preliminary 2:6-9 allegations underlying the lawsuit 23 Injunction and the designating parties have not shown a compelling interest 24 that outweighs the presumption in favor of disclosure. 25 26 27 Portions Sought to Be Filed 1 Document Result Under Seal 2 WeRide’s Motion to Portions Highlighted in Yellow Denied. No designating party Modify the Preliminary at 2:20-23 supports sealing this material. 3 Injunction 4 WeRide’s Motion to Portions Highlighted in Yellow Denied. No designating party Modify the Preliminary at 3:1-2 supports sealing this material. 5 Injunction 6 WeRide’s Motion to Portions Highlighted in Yellow Denied. No designating party 7 Modify the Preliminary at 3:3 supports sealing this material. Injunction 8 WeRide’s Motion to Portions Highlighted in Blue at Denied. This material goes to the 9 Modify the Preliminary 5:5-14 allegations underlying the lawsuit Injunction and the designating parties have 10 not shown a compelling interest 11 that outweighs the presumption in favor of disclosure. 12 WeRide’s Motion to Portions Highlighted in Blue at Denied. This material goes to the 13 Modify the Preliminary 5 n. 2 allegations underlying the lawsuit Injunction and the designating parties have 14 not shown a compelling interest 15 that outweighs the presumption in favor of disclosure. 16 WeRide’s Motion to Portions Highlighted in Yellow Granted as to 5:21-22 and 6:1; 17 Modify the Preliminary at 5:16-6:2 otherwise denied. Injunction 18 WeRide’s Motion to Portions Highlighted in Yellow Granted as to 6: 5-6; otherwise 19 Modify the Preliminary at 6:3-7:14 denied.

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