`
`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
`
`
`
`
`WIRTGEN AMERICA, INC.,
`
`
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`
`
`v.
`
`
`
`
`
`Case No. 1:17-cv-00770-JDW
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`ORDER
`
`AND NOW, this 29th day of January, 2024, upon consideration of Caterpillar’s
`
`
`CATERPILLAR, INC.,
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Defendant.
`
`Motion To Seal Exhibits Filed in Support of Caterpillar Inc.’s and Wirtgen America, Inc.’s
`
`Motions in Limine (D.I. 290), I note as follows.
`
`1.
`
`The Federal Circuit applies regional circuit law to procedural questions that
`
`are not themselves substantive patent law issues so long as they do not (A) pertain to
`
`patent law, (B) bear an essential relationship to matters committed to the Federal Circuit’s
`
`exclusive control by statute, or (C) clearly implicate the jurisprudential responsibilities of
`
`the Federal Circuit in a field within its exclusive jurisdiction. See GFI, Inc. v. Franklin Corp.,
`
`265 F.3d 1268, 1272 (Fed. Cir. 2001). District courts apply regional circuit law with respect
`
`to motions to seal in patent cases.
`
`2.
`
`The common law presumes that the public has a right of access to judicial
`
`records. See In re Avandia Mktg., Sales Pracs. & Prod. Liab. Litig., 924 F.3d 662, 672 (3d
`
`
`
`Case 1:17-cv-00770-JDW Document 298 Filed 01/29/24 Page 2 of 3 PageID #: 29843
`
`Cir. 2019). “In the Third Circuit, the right is particularly robust.” In re Application of Storag
`
`Etzel GmbH for an Ord., Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1782, to Obtain Discovery for Use in a
`
`Foreign Proceeding, No. 19-cv-209, 2020 WL 2949742, at *7 (D. Del. Mar. 25, 2020), report
`
`and recommendation adopted in part, 2020 WL 2915781 (D. Del. June 3, 2020). “A ‘judicial
`
`record’ is a document that ‘has been filed with the court . . . or otherwise somehow
`
`incorporated or integrated into a district court’s adjudicatory proceedings.’” Avandia, 924
`
`F.3d at 672 (quotation omitted). To overcome the strong presumption of access that
`
`attaches to judicial records, a movant must show that an interest in secrecy outweighs the
`
`presumption by demonstrating that the material is the kind of information that courts will
`
`protect and that disclosure will work a clearly defined and serious injury to the party
`
`seeking closure. See id. (emphasis added).
`
`3.
`
`A party seeking to file material under seal must make a specific showing;
`
`“[b]road allegations of harm, bereft of specific examples or articulated reasoning, are
`
`insufficient.” Id. at 673 (quotation omitted). A district judge “must ‘conduct[ ] a document-
`
`by-document review’” to determine whether sealing is warranted. Id. (same).
`
`4.
`
`Caterpillar seeks to seal five exhibits in whole or in part. Caterpillar submits
`
`that Exhibit A contains non-public financial information, Exhibit C is a “CTCT” document,
`
`Exhibit 5 contains confidential business strategy, and Exhibits 6-7 contain non-public
`
`customer information.
`
`
`
` 2
`
`
`
`
`
`Case 1:17-cv-00770-JDW Document 298 Filed 01/29/24 Page 3 of 3 PageID #: 29844
`
`5.
`
`With respect to the non-public financial information and the CTCT
`
`documents, I have previously found that Caterpillar has met the Avandia standard.
`
`(See D.I. 251.) Therefore, I will grant Caterpillar’s Motion with respect to Exhibits A and C.
`
`6.
`
`With respect to Exhibit 5, Caterpillar hasn’t articulated a specific reason why
`
`sealing is warranted. Caterpillar incorporates by reference its brief in support of a prior
`
`motion to seal, but that brief doesn’t directly address the type of document at-issue.
`
`(See D.I. 225 at 5-7.) Exhibit 5 identifies a market opportunity that Caterpillar spotted four
`
`years ago. It’s not clear to me how disclosure of this high-level business plan would work
`
`a clearly defined and serious harm, and Caterpillar hasn’t shown me otherwise.
`
`7.
`
`With respect to Exhibits 6 and 7, Caterpillar’s proposed redactions are
`
`overbroad. Exhibit 6 doesn’t contain any customer information and thus shouldn’t be
`
`sealed. I will allow Caterpillar to redact the customer name and point of contact found at
`
`the top of the first page of Exhibit 7. Nothing in the remainder of that Field Report Form
`
`otherwise identifies Caterpillar’s customer.
`
`In light of the foregoing, it is ORDERED that the Motion to Seal (D.I. 290) is
`
`GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. The Motion is GRANTED with respect to
`
`Exhibits A and C and otherwise DENIED. Caterpillar shall refile Exhibit 7 with updated
`
`redactions limited to identifying customer information consistent with this Order.
`
`BY THE COURT:
`
`/s/ Joshua D. Wolson
`JOSHUA D. WOLSON, J.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` 3
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.
After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.
Accept $ Charge
Still Working On It
This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.
Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.
A few More Minutes ... Still Working
It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.
Thank you for your continued patience.
This document could not be displayed.
We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.
Your account does not support viewing this document.
You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.
Your account does not support viewing this document.
Set your membership
status to view this document.
With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll
get a whole lot more, including:
- Up-to-date information for this case.
- Email alerts whenever there is an update.
- Full text search for other cases.
- Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.
One Moment Please
The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.
Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.
Your document is on its way!
If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.
Sealed Document
We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.
If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.
Access Government Site
