Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-5_15-cv-02543/USCOURTS-cand-5_15-cv-02543-23/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 190
Nature of Suit: Other Contract Actions
Cause of Action: 28:1441 Petition For Removal--Other Contract

---

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAN JOSE DIVISION

TESSERA, INC.,

Plaintiff,

v.

TOSHIBA CORPORATION,

Defendant.

Case No. 15-cv-02543-BLF 

OMNIBUS ORDER RE: 

ADMINISTRATIVE MOTIONS TO 

SEAL DOCUMENTS

[Re: ECF 302, 304]

Before the Court are two administrative motions to seal, one from Plaintiff Tessera, Inc., 

and one from Defendant Toshiba Corp. See ECF 302, 304. The motions relate to the briefing on 

the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment. For the reasons discussed below, the motions 

are GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART.

I. LEGAL STANDARD

“Historically, courts have recognized a ‘general right to inspect and copy public records 

and documents, including judicial records and documents.’” Kamakana v. City & Cty. of

Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 

U.S. 589, 597 & n. 7 (1978)). Accordingly, when considering a sealing request, “a ‘strong 

presumption in favor of access’ is the starting point.” Id. (quoting Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. 

Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003)). Parties seeking to seal judicial records relating to 

motions that are “more than tangentially related to the underlying cause of action” bear the burden 

of overcoming the presumption with “compelling reasons” that outweigh the general history of 

access and the public policies favoring disclosure. Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., 809 F.3d 

1092, 1099 (9th Cir. 2016); Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178–79.

However, “while protecting the public’s interest in access to the courts, we must remain 

Case 5:15-cv-02543-BLF Document 309 Filed 02/13/17 Page 1 of 9
2

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

mindful of the parties’ right to access those same courts upon terms which will not unduly harm 

their competitive interest.” Apple Inc. v. Samsung Elecs. Co., Ltd., 727 F.3d 1214, 1228–29 (Fed. 

Cir. 2013). Records attached to motions that are “not related, or only tangentially related, to the 

merits of a case” therefore are not subject to the strong presumption of access. Ctr. for Auto 

Safety, 809 F.3d at 1099; see also Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 (“[T]he public has less of a need 

for access to court records attached only to non-dispositive motions because those documents are 

often unrelated, or only tangentially related, to the underlying cause of action.”). Parties moving 

to seal the documents attached to such motions must meet the lower “good cause” standard of 

Rule 26(c). Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 (internal quotations and citations omitted). This 

standard requires a “particularized showing,” id., that “specific prejudice or harm will result” if the 

information is disclosed. Phillips ex rel. Estates of Byrd v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 

1210–11 (9th Cir. 2002); see Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). “Broad allegations of harm, unsubstantiated 

by specific examples of articulated reasoning” will not suffice. Beckman Indus., Inc. v. Int’l Ins. 

Co., 966 F.2d 470, 476 (9th Cir. 1992). A protective order sealing the documents during 

discovery may reflect the court’s previous determination that good cause exists to keep the 

documents sealed, see Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179–80, but a blanket protective order that allows 

the parties to designate confidential documents does not provide sufficient judicial scrutiny to 

determine whether each particular document should remain sealed. See Civ. L.R. 79-5(d)(1)(A) 

(“Reference to a stipulation or protective order that allows a party to designate certain documents 

as confidential is not sufficient to establish that a document, or portions thereof, are sealable.”).

In addition to making particularized showings of good cause, parties moving to seal 

documents must comply with the procedures established by Civ. L.R. 79-5. Pursuant to Civ. L.R. 

79-5(b), a sealing order is appropriate only upon a request that establishes the document is 

“sealable,” or “privileged or protectable as a trade secret or otherwise entitled to protection under 

the law.” “The request must be narrowly tailored to seek sealing only of sealable material, and 

must conform with Civil L.R. 79-5(d).” Civ. L.R. 79-5(b). In part, Civ. L.R. 79-5(d) requires the 

submitting party to attach a “proposed order that is narrowly tailored to seal only the sealable 

material” which “lists in table format each document or portion thereof that is sought to be 

Case 5:15-cv-02543-BLF Document 309 Filed 02/13/17 Page 2 of 9
3

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

sealed,” Civ. L.R. 79-5(d)(1)(b), and an “unredacted version of the document” that indicates “by 

highlighting or other clear method, the portions of the document that have been omitted from the 

redacted version.” Civ. L.R. 79-5(d)(1)(d). “Within 4 days of the filing of the Administrative 

Motion to File Under Seal, the Designating Party must file a declaration as required by subsection 

79-5(d)(1)(A) establishing that all of the designated material is sealable.” Civ. L.R. 79-5(e)(1).

II. DISCUSSION

The sealing motions at issue are resolved under the compelling reasons standard because 

motions for summary judgment are more than tangentially related to the merits of this case. With 

this standard in mind, the Court rules on the instant motions as follows:

ECF 

No.

Document to 

be Sealed

Result Reasoning

302-4 Tessera’s 

Motion for 

Partial 

Summary 

Judgment 

GRANTED as to 

highlighted portions. 

Contains confidential information 

pertaining to Tessera’s confidential 

licensing program—a critical trade secret 

for Tessera. Glucoft Decl. ¶ 9, ECF 302-

1.

302-6 Ex. 1 to 

Tessera’s 

Motion for 

Partial 

Summary 

Judgment

GRANTED as to 

highlighted portions.

Contains confidential information 

pertaining to Tessera’s confidential 

licensing program—a critical trade secret 

for Tessera. Glucoft Decl. ¶ 9.

302-7 Ex. 2 to 

Tessera’s

Motion for 

Partial 

Summary 

Judgment

GRANTED. Contains confidential information 

pertaining to Tessera’s confidential 

licensing program—a critical trade secret 

for Tessera. Glucoft Decl. ¶ 9.

302-8 Ex. 3 to 

Tessera’s 

Motion for 

Partial 

Summary 

Judgment

GRANTED. Contains confidential information 

pertaining to Tessera’s confidential 

licensing program—a critical trade secret 

for Tessera. Glucoft Decl. ¶ 9.

302-9 Ex. 4 to 

Tessera’s 

Motion for 

Partial 

Summary 

Judgment

DENIED. Contains excerpts from the deposition 

transcript of Toshiba employee Ikuko 

Shimogawara. Denied because the 

designating party did not provide a 

supporting declaration.

Case 5:15-cv-02543-BLF Document 309 Filed 02/13/17 Page 3 of 9
4

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

302-10 Ex. 5 to 

Tessera’s 

Motion for 

Partial 

Summary 

Judgment

GRANTED. Contains confidential information 

pertaining to Tessera’s confidential 

licensing program—a critical trade secret 

for Tessera. Glucoft Decl. ¶ 9.

302-11 Ex. 6 to 

Tessera’s 

Motion for 

Partial 

Summary 

Judgment

GRANTED. Contains confidential information 

pertaining to Tessera’s confidential 

licensing program—a critical trade secret 

for Tessera. Glucoft Decl. ¶ 9.

302-12 Ex. 7 to 

Tessera’s 

Motion for 

Partial 

Summary 

Judgment

DENIED. Contains excerpts from the deposition 

transcript of Toshiba employee Jun 

Oomori. Denied because the designating 

party did not provide a supporting 

declaration.

302-14 Ex. 8 to 

Tessera’s 

Motion for 

Partial 

Summary 

Judgment

GRANTED as to the 

highlighted portions.

Contains confidential information 

pertaining to Tessera’s confidential 

licensing program—a critical trade secret

for Tessera. Glucoft Decl. ¶ 9.

302-15 Ex. 9 to 

Tessera’s 

Motion for 

Partial 

Summary 

Judgment

GRANTED. Contains confidential information 

pertaining to Tessera’s confidential 

licensing program—a critical trade secret 

for Tessera. Glucoft Decl. ¶ 9.

304-3 Toshiba’s 

Motion for 

Partial 

Summary 

Judgment

GRANTED as to the 

highlighted portions.

Contains information pertaining to terms, 

patents, technology, and royalty 

payments related to confidential license 

agreements between Toshiba and 

Tessera, confidential communications 

among Toshiba, Tessera, and related 

third parties, and performance and 

findings of confidential royalty 

compliance inspections. Qiu Decl. ¶ 4, 

ECF 304-1.

304-5 Liang Decl. ISO 

Toshiba’s 

Motion for 

Partial 

Summary 

Judgment 

(“Liang Decl.”)

GRANTED as to the 

highlighted portions.

Contains information pertaining to 

patents involved in confidential license 

agreements between Toshiba and 

Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶ 5.

Case 5:15-cv-02543-BLF Document 309 Filed 02/13/17 Page 4 of 9
5

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

304-7 Ex. 1 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED as to the 

highlighted portions.

Contains information pertaining to terms 

of and patents/technology involved in 

confidential license agreements between 

Toshiba and Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶ 6.

304-9 Ex. 2 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED as to the 

highlighted portions.

Contains information pertaining to terms, 

technologies, and royalty payments 

related to confidential license agreements 

between Toshiba and Tessera and 

confidential communications between 

Toshiba and Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶7.

304-11 Ex. 3 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contains information pertaining to terms 

of and patents/technology involved in 

confidential license agreements between 

Toshiba and Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶8.

304-12 Ex. 4 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contains information pertaining to terms 

of and patents/technology involved in 

confidential license agreements between 

Toshiba and Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶8.

304-13 Ex. 5 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Deposition transcript of current or past 

personnel of a third-party service 

provider that contains information 

pertaining to confidential 

communications among Toshiba, 

Tessera, and the third-party service 

provider and performance and findings 

of confidential royalty compliance 

inspections. Qiu Decl. ¶ 9.

304-14 Ex. 6 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Deposition transcript of current or past 

personnel of a third-party service 

provider that contains information 

pertaining to confidential 

communications among Toshiba, 

Tessera, and the third-party service 

provider and performance and findings 

of confidential royalty compliance 

inspections. Qiu Decl. ¶ 9.

304-15 Ex. 7 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED as to the 

highlighted portions.

Contains confidential email addresses, 

telephone and facsimile numbers, and 

addresses of Toshiba, Tessera, and thirdparty personnel. Qiu Decl. ¶ 10.

304-17 Ex. 8 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED as to the 

highlighted portions.

Contains confidential email addresses, 

telephone and facsimile numbers, and 

addresses of Toshiba, Tessera, and thirdparty personnel. Qiu Decl. ¶ 10.

Case 5:15-cv-02543-BLF Document 309 Filed 02/13/17 Page 5 of 9
6

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

304-19 Ex. 9 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED as to the 

highlighted portions.

Contains confidential email addresses, 

telephone and facsimile numbers, and 

addresses of Toshiba, Tessera, and thirdparty personnel. Qiu Decl. ¶ 10.

304-21 Ex. 10 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED as to the 

highlighted portions.

Contains confidential email addresses, 

telephone and facsimile numbers, and 

addresses of Toshiba, Tessera, and thirdparty personnel. Qiu Decl. ¶ 10.

304-23 Ex. 11 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED as to the 

highlighted portions.

Contains confidential email addresses, 

telephone and facsimile numbers, and 

addresses of Toshiba, Tessera, and thirdparty personnel. Qiu Decl. ¶ 10.

304-25 Ex. 12 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contains information pertaining to 

confidential communications among 

Toshiba, Tessera, and a third-party 

service provider, performance and 

findings of confidential royalty 

compliance inspections, and Toshiba’s 

royalty payments and products/

technologies related to confidential 

license agreements between Toshiba and 

Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶ 11.

304-26 Ex. 13 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contains information pertaining to 

confidential communications among 

Toshiba, Tessera, and a third-party 

service provider, performance and 

findings of confidential royalty 

compliance inspections, and Toshiba’s 

royalty payments and products/

technologies related to confidential 

license agreements between Toshiba and 

Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶ 11.

304-27 Ex. 14 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contains information pertaining to 

confidential communications among 

Toshiba, Tessera, and a third-party 

service provider, performance and

findings of confidential royalty 

compliance inspections, and Toshiba’s 

royalty payments and products/

technologies related to confidential 

license agreements between Toshiba and 

Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶ 11.

Case 5:15-cv-02543-BLF Document 309 Filed 02/13/17 Page 6 of 9
7

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

304-28 Ex. 15 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contains information pertaining to 

confidential communications among 

Toshiba, Tessera, and a third-party 

service provider, performance and 

findings of confidential royalty 

compliance inspections, and Toshiba’s 

royalty payments and products/

technologies related to confidential 

license agreements between Toshiba and 

Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶ 11.

304-29 Ex. 16 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contain information pertaining to 

confidential communications between 

Toshiba and Tessera related to 

confidential royalty compliance 

inspections and Toshiba’s 

products/technology and royalty 

payments related to confidential license 

agreements between Toshiba and 

Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶ 12.

304-30 Ex. 17 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contain information pertaining to 

confidential communications between 

Toshiba and Tessera related to 

confidential royalty compliance 

inspections and Toshiba’s 

products/technology and royalty 

payments related to confidential license 

agreements between Toshiba and 

Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶ 12.

304-31 Ex. 18 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contains information pertaining to 

confidential communications among 

Toshiba, Tessera, and a third-party 

service provider, performance and 

findings of confidential royalty 

compliance inspections, and Toshiba’s 

royalty payments and products/

technologies related to confidential 

license agreements between Toshiba and 

Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶ 11.

304-32 Ex. 19 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contain information pertaining to 

confidential internal communications 

among Tessera employees about 

Toshiba’s royalty obligations and 

payments pursuant to confidential license 

agreements between the parties. Qiu 

Decl. ¶ 13.

Case 5:15-cv-02543-BLF Document 309 Filed 02/13/17 Page 7 of 9
8

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

304-33 Ex. 20 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contain information pertaining to 

confidential internal communications 

among Tessera employees about 

Toshiba’s royalty obligations and 

payments pursuant to confidential license 

agreements between the parties. Qiu 

Decl. ¶ 13.

304-34 Ex. 21 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contain information pertaining to 

confidential internal communications 

among Tessera employees about 

Toshiba’s royalty obligations and 

payments pursuant to confidential license 

agreements between the parties. Qiu 

Decl. ¶ 13.

304-35 Ex. 22 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contain information pertaining to 

confidential internal communications 

among Tessera employees about 

Toshiba’s royalty obligations and 

payments pursuant to confidential license 

agreements between the parties. Qiu 

Decl. ¶ 13.

304-36 Ex. 23 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contain information pertaining to 

confidential internal communications 

among Tessera employees about 

Toshiba’s royalty obligations and 

payments pursuant to confidential license 

agreements between the parties. Qiu 

Decl. ¶ 13.

304-37 Ex. 24 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contains a compilation of technology 

and market reports created by a thirdparty research organization. Qiu Decl. ¶ 

14.

304-38 Ex. 26 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contains information pertaining to 

confidential communications between 

Toshiba and Tessera regarding patents 

and technology allegedly related to 

confidential license agreements between 

Toshiba and Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶ 15.

304-39 Ex. 27 to Liang 

Decl.

GRANTED. Contains information pertaining to 

confidential communications between 

Toshiba and Tessera regarding patents 

and technology allegedly related to 

confidential license agreements between 

Toshiba and Tessera. Qiu Decl. ¶ 15.

III. ORDER

For the foregoing reasons, the sealing motions at ECF 302 and 304 are GRANTED IN 

Case 5:15-cv-02543-BLF Document 309 Filed 02/13/17 Page 8 of 9
9

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

United States District Court

Northern District of California

PART and DENIED IN PART. Under Civil Local Rule 79-5(e)(2), for any request that has been 

denied because the party designating a document as confidential or subject to a protective order 

has not provided sufficient reasons to seal, the submitting party must file the unredacted (or lesser 

redacted) documents into the public record no earlier than 4 days and no later than 10 days from 

the filing of this order.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: February 13, 2017

 ______________________________________

BETH LABSON FREEMAN

United States District Judge

Case 5:15-cv-02543-BLF Document 309 Filed 02/13/17 Page 9 of 9