Portal Instruments, Inc. v. LEO Pharma A/S
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:22-cv-09156
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Portal Instruments v. LEO Pharma, Judge Schofield ordered an unredacted complaint filed under seal and reserved decision on LEO’s sealing request.
Portal Instruments, Inc. and LEO Pharma A/S; the order also concerns public access to the complaint and exhibits containing information the parties describe as confidential.
What happened
Portal Instruments, Inc. sued LEO Pharma A/S in a breach-of-contract action involving an agreement to jointly develop a drug-delivery system. LEO asked that confidential information in the complaint and its exhibits be kept from public view, while Portal took no position.
The court ordered Portal to file an unredacted complaint with the omitted exhibits under seal by December 2, 2022. The court reserved decision on LEO’s request to keep specified information sealed until it reviewed the materials LEO sought to protect.
Judge Lorna G. Schofield issued the order on November 29, 2022. The order did not finally decide whether the requested information would remain sealed.
The detailed version
- Portal Instruments, Inc. v. LEO Pharma A/S · No. 1:22-cv-09156
- Lorna Schofield
- Nov. 29, 2022
Background
This order concerns a letter from LEO Pharma A/S in Portal Instruments, Inc.’s breach-of-contract case. The dispute relates to a Collaboration and License Agreement under which the parties agreed to jointly develop a proprietary drug-delivery system for use with LEO’s drug products. LEO said the agreement required confidential treatment of information generated under the agreement and of the agreement’s terms.
LEO asked the court to keep two categories of information under seal: (1) the agreement and allegations describing its specific commercial terms, including research-and-development plans and financial information; and (2) allegations describing a pharmacokinetic study and related analysis concerning the parties’ proprietary technology and delivery of LEO’s drug products. Portal took no position on sealing this information.
Court’s Action
The court ordered Portal to file an unredacted version of the complaint, with the omitted exhibits attached, under seal by December 2, 2022. The court reserved decision on LEO’s request pending review of the materials LEO sought to file under seal.
The order therefore directed the sealed filing but did not finally rule on whether the agreement, commercial terms, research-and-development information, study details, or related analysis would remain under seal. Judge Lorna G. Schofield issued the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.