Skillz Platform Inc. v. AviaGames Inc.

Background

Skillz Platform Inc. filed an administrative motion asking whether another party’s material should be sealed in connection with Skillz’s opposition to AviaGames Inc.’s motion to strike. Skillz identified highlighted portions of its opposition as containing information that AviaGames had designated highly confidential.

Legal standard

The court explained that filings related to the merits of a case generally may be sealed only for compelling reasons. Because this request concerned a motion to strike that was only indirectly related to the merits, the court applied the less demanding good-cause standard. Under the district’s rules, when a party seeks to seal material designated confidential by another party, the designating party must provide a supporting statement or declaration explaining why sealing is warranted, what harm would result from disclosure, and why a narrower alternative would not be sufficient.

Court’s analysis

AviaGames filed a statement supporting sealing. It said the highlighted material concerned confidential information about its business strategy, products, and source-code algorithms, and that disclosure could harm its competitive position. No party opposed AviaGames’ statement. The court concluded that good cause exists to seal trade secrets and that confidential source code and business information that could harm competitive standing satisfy the applicable standard.

Ruling

The court granted Skillz’s administrative motion to seal. It specifically granted sealing of the highlighted portions of Skillz’s opposition to AviaGames’ motion to strike because they contained confidential business information whose release would harm a party’s competitive standing.