PharmacyChecker.com LLC v. National Association of Boards of Pharmacy

Background

The defendants requested conditional sealing of two items: (1) their joint opposition to PharmacyChecker.com LLC’s motion to strike portions of the defendants’ submissions supporting summary judgment; and (2) Exhibit 123 to the August 17, 2022 declaration of Melanie M. Kiser. The defendants said these materials contained documents, deposition testimony, and information derived from documents that PharmacyChecker.com had designated as confidential, highly confidential, or for outside counsel’s eyes only under the parties’ stipulated protective order.

Sealing request

The defendants stated that PharmacyChecker.com, as the party that made the confidentiality designations, had the obligation to file a motion seeking permanent sealing under the applicable rules. The request before the court was for conditional sealing while that anticipated motion was pending. The letter recognized that judicial documents generally carry a presumption of public access, but that the presumption is not absolute.

Ruling

The court granted the defendants’ motion to conditionally seal the referenced materials. The court stated that conditional sealing was appropriate in light of PharmacyChecker.com’s confidentiality designations under the protective order. PharmacyChecker.com’s motion to permanently seal the conditionally sealed materials was due no later than August 30, 2022, under the deadline set at docket entry 300. The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate the pending motion at docket entry 290.