dotStrategy Co. v. Facebook Inc

Background

The defendant sought to keep portions of three exhibits filed in support of its motion for summary judgment under seal. The first exhibit contained the output of a database query concerning instances in which advertisements were shown to users and generated revenue. The second contained the output of a query concerning accounts the defendant had identified as fake. The third showed interactions with the plaintiff’s advertising campaigns, aggregated by month.

The information the defendant sought to seal included database names and field names used to combat fake accounts and provide advertising opportunities to advertisers. The defendant argued that publication would harm its competitive standing.

Legal Standard

Judicial records are generally presumed to be available to the public. Because the exhibits related to a summary-judgment motion, the court applied the “compelling reasons” standard. Under that standard, the party seeking a seal must identify specific reasons that outweigh the public’s interest in access. The party must also consider alternatives, limit the amount of material sealed, and avoid sealing entire documents when redaction is sufficient.

Court’s Analysis

The court found that the information warranted sealing under the compelling-reasons standard. It also found that the requests were narrowly tailored to the portions of the exhibits that directly implicated the defendant’s stated competitive interests and that the defendant had complied with the other applicable local-rule requirements.

Disposition

The court granted the motion to seal. The order sealed specified column names and rows in the exhibits to the Simonsen Declaration, including portions of Exhibits 1, 2, and 3. It did not order the exhibits sealed in their entirety.