Federal Trade Commission v. IQVIA Holdings Inc.

Background

The Federal Trade Commission, IQVIA Holdings Inc., and Propel Media, Inc. jointly asked the court to seal portions of their Joint Statement Regarding the Preliminary Injunction Hearing and Schedule. The request concerned an unredacted version of that filing, identified as Doc. 88, and relied on the court’s individual practices and Paragraph 9 of an existing protective order.

The parties stated that the proposed redactions covered information produced during the FTC’s nonpublic investigation of IQVIA’s proposed acquisition of Propel Media. They said IQVIA, Propel, and/or third parties had designated the information confidential because it was commercially and competitively sensitive. The joint statement included quotations and citations to documents designated confidential under the protective order. Exhibit D was a nonpublic court transcript that was also filed under seal.

Court’s analysis

The court applied the Second Circuit’s three-step approach to sealing judicial documents. It recognized that the joint statement was a judicial document, but concluded that the presumption of public access was weaker because the request covered information already designated confidential under the protective order. The parties had limited the proposed redactions to information designated as confidential and had prepared a redacted version for public filing.

Ruling

Judge Edgardo Ramos granted the request to seal the unredacted version of the joint statement. The clerk was directed to seal the document as to the applicable parties—the FTC, IQVIA, and Propel. The redacted joint statement was to be filed publicly, and a filing sheet for the sealed transcript was also to be filed publicly. This order addressed sealing and did not decide the underlying proposed acquisition or the preliminary-injunction issues.