Resh, Inc v. Skimlite Manufacturing Inc

Background

Resh, Inc. asked to seal portions of the deposition transcript of Eric Resh, described as its named investor, in a patent case concerning telescoping pools for cleaning pools. The court had previously denied an earlier request to seal the materials because Resh had not timely filed a supporting statement or declaration. Resh later filed a supporting statement and revised redactions.

Legal standard

The court explained that judicial records generally carry a strong presumption of public access. But that presumption does not apply in the same way to matters only tangentially related to the merits of a case. Because the discovery dispute did not address the merits of either party’s claims or defenses, the court applied the “good cause” standard under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c).

Court’s reasoning

Resh argued that the information it sought to seal included trade secrets, specifically the identities of individuals and companies that had manufactured its products. Resh stated that the information had not previously been made public and had not been shared with the defendants. The court found that Resh had shown good cause to seal the limited portions identified in its filing. It also found that the proposed redactions were minimal and narrowly tailored to address the potential harm Resh identified. The court noted, however, that some proposed redactions covered information previously filed on the public docket.

Ruling

The court granted Resh’s administrative motion to seal. It ordered the deposition transcripts filed at Dkt. Nos. 96-3 and 95-1 sealed. It also ordered Resh to file, by March 11, 2024, a redacted public version of the transcript excerpts filed at Dkt. No. 96-3, including all pages of those excerpts rather than only the pages containing proposed redactions.