Overview
Intellectual property lawsuits often involve confidential technical, business, or financial information. To prevent this information from becoming public during court proceedings, such as written briefs or hearings, the parties must request a court order to seal the records and/or the courtroom.
U.S. district courts have become more strict about what confidential information can be filed “under seal” and what must be made public. A recent case, Uniloc USA, Inc. v. Apple Inc., 25 F.4th 1018 (Fed. Cir. 2022), highlights the importance of being thorough when trying to keep confidential information private.
In Uniloc, Uniloc sought to file 109 licence agreements with the district court “under seal” as evidence in its patent infringement lawsuit against Apple. Only 31 of the 109 licensees requested their information be kept confidential, and only 13 submitted declarations to support their request. Only the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-party appointed by the court to advocate for unsealing, opposed Uniloc’s request.
The district court judge denied Uniloc’s motion to seal on grounds that it was overly broad and unsupported. Multiple appeals on the issue ensued and the Federal Circuit affirmed the lower court in most respects but remanded for the court to perform a more detailed analysis of whether certain third-party confidential information should be sealed.
