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 denied AviaGames’s sealing motion without prejudice because Skillz did not support its confidentiality designation.
AviaGames’s sealing motion was denied, while Skillz was given 10 days to file a statement or declaration supporting sealing of the designated material.
What happened
In Skillz Platform Inc. v. AviaGames Inc., AviaGames asked the court to consider sealing material that Skillz had designated highly confidential in a filing about correcting the record.
The court said the request was subject to the lower “good cause” standard because the filing was only indirectly related to the case’s merits. Skillz had not filed the required statement or declaration supporting continued sealing.
Judge Beth Labson Freeman denied AviaGames’s motion without prejudice. Skillz may file supporting materials within 10 days of the order.
The detailed version
- Skillz Platform Inc. v. AviaGames Inc. · No. 5:21-cv-02436
- Beth Freeman
- Oct. 3, 2023
Background
AviaGames filed an administrative motion asking the court to consider whether material designated as highly confidential by Skillz should remain sealed in AviaGames’s response to Skillz’s notice to correct the record.
Legal standard
The court explained that filings more than tangentially related to a case’s merits may be sealed only for “compelling reasons,” while filings only tangentially related to the merits may be sealed upon a showing of “good cause.” The court applied the good-cause standard because the filing concerned a notice to correct the record and was only tangentially related to the merits.
Under Civil Local Rule 79-5(f), when a party seeks to seal material because another party designated it confidential, the party that made the designation must file a statement or declaration supporting sealing within seven days. Failure to do so may result in unsealing without further notice.
Court’s ruling
As of the order, Skillz had not filed the required supporting statement or declaration. The court therefore denied AviaGames’s administrative motion to consider whether Skillz’s material should be sealed. The denial was without prejudice, and Skillz was allowed to file a supporting statement within 10 days of the order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.