General Electric Co. v. L3Harris Technologies, Inc.

Request

General Electric Co. (GE) submitted an unopposed request to redact competitively sensitive business information from a 2001 Membership Interest Purchase Agreement between GE and L3Harris Technologies, Inc. The agreement concerned GE’s purchase of L3Harris’s entire interest in the parties’ prior joint venture. GE referenced or quoted the agreement in materials opposing L3Harris’s motion to dismiss, or alternatively to stay or transfer GE’s lawsuit to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

GE filed a redacted version publicly and an unredacted version under seal. It sought to redact only the confidential purchase price and proposed leaving the rest of the agreement publicly accessible.

Arguments and Legal Standard

GE argued that disclosure of the purchase price could give competitors information useful for competing with GE or L3Harris and for negotiating future joint ventures or similar transactions. GE also argued that the price was not relevant to resolving L3Harris’s pending motion.

The request relied on the common-law presumption of public access to judicial documents and cases recognizing that courts may restrict access to confidential or competitively sensitive business information. GE asserted that its proposed redaction was narrowly limited to information that could cause competitive harm if disclosed.

Ruling

The court’s order states, “APPLICATION GRANTED,” and approves GE’s request. Judge Vernon S. Broderick therefore allowed the proposed limited redaction of the confidential purchase price. The order did not state that any other portion of the agreement could be redacted.