Court, Explained
U.S. Federal District Courts
←Back to docket
S.D.N.Y.Procedural orderFiled Mar. 27, 2020

Solar Junction Corporation v. IQE PLC

Judge
Katherine Failla
Docket
1:18-cv-02564
Court
U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
Pages
2
Civil ProcedureArbitration
In one sentence

In Solar Junction v. IQE, Judge Failla granted leave to file an unredacted arbitration award viewable only to the court and parties.

Who this affects

The parties and the court in the two related cases may view the unredacted Final Award; the award is not publicly viewable in that form.

What happened

Solar Junction Corporation and IQE PLC were involved in related federal cases concerning an arbitration award issued by the London Court of International Arbitration.

IQE PLC and individual defendants asked to file the award in full under seal and a redacted version publicly. Solar Junction Corporation had proposed the redactions, while the defendants questioned whether the information legally qualified for sealing but said an arbitration confidentiality agreement required them to seek sealing.

Judge Katherine Polk Failla granted the application. She allowed the unredacted award to be filed so that only the court and parties could view it, and ordered that the ruling also apply in the related case.

The detailed version

For law students, journalists, and other readers who want the full reasoning

Case
Solar Junction Corporation v. IQE PLC · No. 1:18-cv-02564
Judge
Katherine Failla
Date
Mar. 27, 2020

Background

The defendants in Solar Junction Corporation v. IQE PLC and a related case planned to submit a Final Award from an arbitration between IQE PLC and Solar Junction Corporation. Solar Junction Corporation said the award should be filed under seal under the arbitration's Protective Order and Confidentiality Agreement, with a redacted version available publicly.

Request

The defendants stated that they did not believe the information identified for redaction met the court's requirements for sealing. They noted that some of the material consisted of previously published articles, dissertations, and issued United States patents. The defendants nevertheless asked for permission to file the award under seal because the arbitration's confidentiality requirements directed them not to disclose information that Solar Junction Corporation considered confidential unless an arbitrator or court ordered otherwise.

Ruling

Judge Katherine Polk Failla granted the application. The court permitted the Final Award in unredacted form to be filed as viewable only by the court and the parties. The order also applies to No. 17 Civ. 9478 and was to be docketed in that case.

The authoritative version

Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.

Open opinion PDF →
Summary written with AI assistance. See how summaries are made. Spot something wrong? Tell us.