Tevra Brands LLC v. Bayer HealthCare LLC ( 2020 )

1 2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 5 SAN JOSE DIVISION 6 7 TEVRA BRANDS LLC, Case No. 19-cv-04312-BLF 8 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MOTIONS TO 9 v. FILE UNDER SEAL DEFENDANT’S REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE 10 BAYER HEALTHCARE LLC, et al., AND PLAINTIFF'S SUR-REPLY 11 Defendants. [ECF 42, 65] 12 The parties have filed several administrative motions to seal pursuant to Civil Local Rule 13 79-5 in this case. This order addresses two of these motions: (1) Defendant Bayer HealthCare LLC’s 14 Motion to File Under Seal Portions of Its Request for Judicial Notice in Support of Its Motion to 15 Dismiss, ECF 42, and (2) Plaintiff’s Motion to File Under Seal Portions of Its Sur-Reply in 16 Opposition to Bayer HealthCare LLC’s Motion to Dismiss, ECF 65. 17 “Historically, courts have recognized a ‘general right to inspect and copy public records and 18 documents, including judicial records and documents.’” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 19 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 20 & n.7 (1978)). This right exists to “ensur[e] the public’s understanding of the judicial process and 21 of significant public events,” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 (internal quotation marks omitted), as 22 “court records often provide important, sometimes the only, bases or explanations for a court’s 23 decision,” Oliner v. Kontrabecki, 745 F.3d 1024, 1025 (9th Cir. 2014). Accordingly, in order to 24 justify sealing court records, a litigant must show “compelling reasons” that “outweigh the general 25 history of access and the public policies favoring disclosure.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178 (internal 26 quotation marks omitted). 27 Here, however, there is no public interest in viewing the documents the parties seek to seal. 1 the Complaint, which the Court subsequently terminated as moot. ECF 92. Because there will be 2 || no judicial decision on that motion, the public has no need to access the supporting documents. See 3 Karl vy. Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc., No. C 18-04176 WHA, 2019 WL 5677543, at *8 (N.D. Cal. 4 Oct. 31, 2019). Accordingly, the Court GRANTS the administrative motions to seal; the copies of 5 the documents filed at ECF 42 and 65 will remain under seal. 6 IT IS SO ORDERED. 7 Dated: March 16, 2020 tn 8 M. BETH LABSON FREEMAN 9 United States District Judge 10 11 12 41 © 15 16 = 17 Z 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28