/>iTakeaway: A motion to seal will only be granted upon a showing by the moving party that the document in question contains “confidential information.”
In its Order, the Board conditionally granted Patent Owner’s Motion to Seal two exhibits. The Board began by noting that there is a strong public policy in favor of making information filed in an inter partes review open to the public; therefore, the default rule is that all papers are publicly available. A party may file a motion to seal “confidential information,” which is defined as “trade secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information.” The movant bears the burden of proof in showing entitlement to the requested relief.
Patent Owner argued that the exhibits are “customer release schedule[s] providing details about” the “anticipated delivery requirements and schedule” of one of Patent Owner’s customers. Patent Owner asserted that the exhibits include confidential information relating to “business analysis and intelligence related to sales of parts for appliances manufactured and sold by” the customer. The Board was persuaded that the exhibits contained confidential information. Petitioner argued that the information is not confidential because it is the same type of information disclosed in another exhibit; however, the Board found that this was not the case. Petitioner also argued that Patent Owner failed to include a certification that it conferred with Petitioner to try to resolve the dispute. The Board did not deny Patent Owner’s Motion for failure to confer, but did require the parties for the remainder of the proceeding to obtain authorization before filing a motion to seal.
The Board only conditionally granted the Motion because should the exhibits be referred to in a final written decision, they will become public.
Schott Gemtron Corporation v. SSW Holding Company, Inc., IPR2014-00367
Paper 32: Decision on Patent Owner’s Motion to Seal
Dated: October 15, 2014
Patent: 8,286,561 B2
Before: Justin T. Arbes, Philip J. Hoffmann, and Georgianna W. Braden
Written by: Arbes
