Riseandshine Corporation v. Pepsico, Inc.

Background

RiseandShine Corporation, doing business as Rise Brewing, filed a letter application to seal its opposition to non-party Starbucks Corporation’s motion to intervene and an associated Exhibit A. RiseandShine stated that the opposition and exhibit contained information PepsiCo had designated “Confidential—Outside Attorneys’ Eyes Only” under the case’s protective order. The materials included references to internal, nonpublic operational information and PepsiCo’s pricing and marketing strategy.

Sealing Request

RiseandShine argued that public access to court records is not absolute and that the court could seal documents when the privacy or business interests supporting secrecy outweighed public access. It argued that disclosure of PepsiCo’s operations, pricing, and marketing information could give competitors valuable information and harm PepsiCo’s future ability to compete. RiseandShine also stated that a public redacted version would be filed and that the sealed materials had been served on PepsiCo’s counsel.

Ruling

Judge Lorna G. Schofield granted the sealing application for substantially the reasons stated in RiseandShine’s letter. The court ordered the letter at Docket Number 272 sealed, with access limited to the parties listed in the appendix, and directed the clerk to close the motion at Docket Number 271. This order addressed access to the identified filings; the opinion text does not resolve the underlying dispute or Starbucks Corporation’s motion to intervene.