Phyto Tech Corp. v. Givaudan SA
- John Koeltl
- 1:19-cv-09033
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Phyto Tech Corp. v. Givaudan SA, Judge Koeltl granted BASF SE’s application to file a discovery objection under seal.
Non-party BASF SE and the parties and counsel receiving BASF’s redacted and unredacted filings.
What happened
Phyto Tech Corp. v. Givaudan SA involved a limited filing by non-party BASF SE concerning discovery in the case.
BASF asked permission to file its discovery objection under seal because it contained confidential business and technical information from an agreement sought in discovery. BASF said it would file a public version with redactions and provide an unredacted version to the lawyers in the case.
Judge John G. Koeltl granted BASF’s application to file the specified information under seal. The order addressed only that filing and did not resolve the underlying discovery dispute.
The detailed version
- Phyto Tech Corp. v. Givaudan SA · No. 1:19-cv-09033
- John Koeltl
- Nov. 23, 2020
Background
The filing concerned a letter motion by non-party BASF SE in discovery proceedings involving Phyto Tech Corp. and Givaudan SA. BASF stated that it was appearing only for the limited purpose of addressing the discovery issue and was not generally appearing in the case. It reserved its positions concerning a general appearance, personal jurisdiction, and venue.
The court had previously entered a protective order. BASF sought permission to file its letter motion under seal, with a redacted public version on the electronic docket. BASF said the letter motion would include confidential business and technical information contained in an agreement sought in discovery. BASF also pointed to earlier filings in which similar information had been filed under seal.
Ruling
Judge John G. Koeltl granted BASF’s application to file the specified confidential information under seal. BASF said it would file a public version with redactions and serve the unredacted version on counsel of record. The text provided does not show any ruling on the underlying discovery dispute or on the parties’ claims.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.