Skillz Platform Inc. v. AviaGames Inc.
- Beth Freeman
- 5:21-cv-02436
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 3
In Skillz Platform v. AviaGames, Judge Freeman granted Skillz’s renewed motion to seal narrowly redacted exhibits containing confidential business information.
Skillz Platform Inc., AviaGames Inc., and the public’s access to the specified exhibits.
What happened
Skillz Platform Inc. asked to seal highlighted portions of three exhibits attached to AviaGames Inc.’s opposition to Skillz’s motion for summary judgment. AviaGames did not oppose the renewed request.
Skillz said the exhibits contained confidential information about its games, platform, research and development, market analysis, and business strategies. It argued that disclosure could harm its competitive position. The court had previously denied Skillz’s request without prejudice because Skillz had sought to seal the exhibits in their entirety.
The court found that the proposed redactions were limited to sealable material and that compelling reasons supported sealing the confidential business information. Judge Beth Labson Freeman granted Skillz’s renewed motion and ordered Skillz to file public versions of the exhibits with the approved redactions within 10 days.
The detailed version
- Skillz Platform Inc. v. AviaGames Inc. · No. 5:21-cv-02436
- Beth Freeman
- Sept. 18, 2023
Background
Skillz Platform Inc. filed a renewed request to seal portions of three exhibits attached to AviaGames Inc.’s opposition to Skillz’s motion for summary judgment. Skillz had designated the information as highly confidential. AviaGames did not oppose the renewed request.
Skillz argued that the highlighted portions contained nonpublic and proprietary information concerning its research and development, the design and operation of its games and platform, market analysis, and business strategies. Skillz also argued that disclosure could give competitors or other bad actors a roadmap to sensitive product information and cause competitive harm.
The court had previously denied Skillz’s sealing request without prejudice because Skillz had sought to seal the exhibits in their entirety. In the renewed request, Skillz proposed sealing only highlighted portions.
Legal standard
Because the exhibits were connected to a summary-judgment motion, the court applied the “compelling reasons” standard. Under that standard, documents connected to the merits of a case may be sealed when disclosure would cause harm that outweighs the public’s interest in access to judicial records. The court also applied Northern District of California Local Rule 79-5, which requires reasons supporting secrecy, evidence of the injury that would result from disclosure, consideration of less restrictive alternatives, and a narrowly tailored request.
Ruling
The court found that confidential business information whose disclosure would harm a party’s competitive standing can satisfy the compelling-reasons standard. It also found that Skillz’s proposed redactions were narrowly tailored to seal only the material that was properly sealable.
The court granted Skillz Platform Inc.’s renewed administrative motion to file under seal, ECF No. 235. The ruling covered the highlighted portions of Exhibits 1, 2, and 4 attached to AviaGames’ opposition to Skillz’s motion for partial summary judgment. Skillz was ordered to file redacted versions of those exhibits on the public docket within 10 days of the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.