Novartis Pharma AG v. Incyte Corporation
- Gregory Woods
- 1:20-cv-00400
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Novartis Pharma AG v. Incyte Corporation, Magistrate Judge Gorenstein granted Novartis’s request to keep three privilege logs sealed.
Novartis Pharma AG’s three privilege logs remain sealed, limiting public access to information about its documents, business practices, and third-party communications. Incyte Corporation did not oppose the request, and the ruling also protects the privacy interests of third parties identified by the court.
What happened
In Novartis Pharma AG v. Incyte Corporation, Novartis asked the court to continue sealing three privilege logs that Incyte had filed with a discovery motion. Incyte did not oppose the request. The logs identified documents and described their contents, including information about agreements, products, patent applications, business relationships, and future plans.
The court said discovery filings are generally available to the public, but the public-access interest is weaker for discovery disputes than for trial or summary-judgment materials. The court found that disclosure could reveal business practices that competitors might exploit and could invade the privacy interests of third parties included in emails over more than a decade.
The court concluded that Novartis’s interest in keeping the logs sealed outweighed the public’s interest in seeing them. Magistrate Judge Gorenstein therefore granted Novartis’s motion to maintain sealing.
The detailed version
- Novartis Pharma AG v. Incyte Corporation · No. 1:20-cv-00400
- Gregory Woods
- Apr. 28, 2025
Background
Novartis Pharma AG asked the court to maintain the sealing of three privilege logs filed by Incyte Corporation in connection with Incyte’s motion to compel discovery. A privilege log is a document that identifies materials withheld from discovery and explains the asserted legal protection. Incyte did not oppose Novartis’s application.
The three filings were Novartis’s supplemental privilege log, supplemental redaction log, and second supplemental privilege log dated February 15, 2022. According to the court, the logs listed information such as each document’s date, type, sender, recipients, Bates number, and asserted privilege. Some entries also described specific agreements, products, patent applications, due diligence, existing relationships, and planned future activities.
Court’s Analysis
The court applied the public-access framework for judicial documents filed with discovery motions. It explained that such documents carry a presumption of public access, but that presumption is generally weaker than the one applied to materials introduced at trial or filed with motions to dismiss or for summary judgment.
The court agreed that public disclosure of the logs could provide competitors with insight into Novartis’s current business practices. It also agreed that disclosure could harm the privacy interests of third parties who were copied on, or otherwise included in, emails over a period of more than ten years. Considering the lower level of public-access protection for discovery-dispute filings, the court found that Novartis’s interest in continued sealing outweighed the public’s interest in access.
Disposition
The court granted Novartis’s motion to maintain sealing, Docket No. 528. The order did not state that the motion was granted with or without prejudice. The opinion identifies Gabriel W. Gorenstein as the United States Magistrate Judge who issued the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.