ChemImage Corporation v. Johnson & Johnson

Background

Defendants moved under Judge Furman’s individual rules for permission to redact nonpublic, competitively sensitive business information from discovery documents that ChemImage quoted and attached to its opposition to defendants’ motion for a protective order concerning the deposition of Ashley McEvoy. The documents had been designated confidential or highly confidential under the parties’ discovery confidentiality order.

Defendants identified twelve discovery documents. They stated that one document, DEF_00783181, was no longer subject to a confidentiality designation and could be filed publicly without redactions. The other eleven documents concerned information such as business strategy, development of programs that had not launched, possible contract renegotiations, budgets, financial performance, and projected financial results. Some information related to Project Erie, the parties’ co-development project; other information concerned defendants’ broader Advanced Imaging, Robotics, and MedTech businesses.

Parties’ Positions

Defendants argued that disclosure of the remaining eleven documents’ sensitive commercial information could cause competitive and financial harm. They maintained that limited redactions would protect those interests while preserving public access to enough information to understand the dispute. They also argued that the information was not essential to the public’s understanding of the deposition dispute or the case as a whole. ChemImage did not oppose the requested relief.

Ruling

Judge Jesse M. Furman granted the motion. The grant was subject to reconsideration if any party or nonparty files a motion to unseal particular documents. The order also directed the Clerk to terminate Motion No. 97. The opinion text does not reproduce the specific redactions or identify the documents covered by the final redacted versions beyond the parties’ description of the eleven remaining documents.