Capri Sun GmbH v. American Beverage Corporation
- Paul Engelmayer
- 1:19-cv-01422
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Capri Sun v. American Beverage, Judge Engelmayer addressed ABC’s request to seal or redact litigation filings, but the supplied text does not state the request’s disposition.
American Beverage Corporation’s requested sealing and redactions, Capri Sun GmbH’s litigation filings, and public access to the identified court materials.
What happened
In Capri Sun GmbH v. American Beverage Corporation, American Beverage Corporation asked the court to keep certain documents under seal and to allow redacted versions of others in connection with Capri Sun’s summary-judgment and expert-evidence motions.
American Beverage said the materials contained confidential business and marketing information, nonpublic financial information, and deposition or expert materials discussing that information. It argued that public disclosure could harm a party competitively and noted that some materials had previously been allowed to be filed under seal or with redactions.
The supplied text includes a “SO ORDERED” notation signed by Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, but it does not include an order stating whether American Beverage’s sealing and redaction requests were granted or denied.
The detailed version
- Capri Sun GmbH v. American Beverage Corporation · No. 1:19-cv-01422
- Paul Engelmayer
- July 6, 2021
Procedural posture
American Beverage Corporation submitted a letter motion under the court’s individual rules and the protective order in the case. It asked the court to seal documents filed in support of its opposition to Capri Sun GmbH’s motions for summary judgment and to exclude expert evidence. It also asked for permission to file other documents with redactions.
The supplied text is the motion letter and includes a “SO ORDERED” notation and Judge Engelmayer’s signature. It does not include a separate operative order or state expressly whether the requests were granted, denied, or granted in part.
Materials at issue
American Beverage identified documents from its opposition papers, declarations, exhibits, expert materials, deposition excerpts, legal memoranda, and its response to Capri Sun’s statement of material facts. The letter refers to attached Exhibits A and B, but those exhibits are not included in the supplied text.
Reasons offered for sealing or redaction
American Beverage identified four categories of information:
- Confidential business and marketing strategy materials, including internal communications about products, customers, marketing, and competitive analysis.
- Highly confidential, nonpublic financial information and analysis.
- Deposition transcripts and expert reports containing information from the first two categories.
- Portions of legal memoranda and the response to Capri Sun’s statement of material facts that discuss that information.
American Beverage stated that it had redacted expert reports, expert deposition transcripts, legal memoranda, and portions of its factual response where appropriate. It argued that some fact-witness deposition transcripts were so thoroughly filled with commercially sensitive information that redaction would not be practical, and therefore requested that those transcripts remain under seal.
Earlier filing treatment
The letter states that the parties previously sought permission to file summary-judgment and expert-motion papers under seal or with redactions, and that the court granted those earlier requests on June 4, 2021. American Beverage relied in part on that earlier treatment and on confidentiality designations under the protective order.
Disposition
The supplied text does not state the court’s specific disposition of American Beverage’s request. It shows that Judge Paul A. Engelmayer signed a “SO ORDERED” notation, but the text provided does not say which documents were sealed, which redactions were authorized, or whether any part of the request was denied.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.