Google LLC v. LATAM Airlines Group S.A. Inc.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California grants Google LLC’s administrative motion to file materials under seal in connection with its motion to expedite a preliminary-injunction hearing. Applying the good-cause standard, the court permits sealing of an unpublished Brazilian Superior Court of Justice removal order and quotations from that order because public filing could expose Google to penalties and no less restrictive alternative was adequate.

Holdings

1. Materials filed in connection with the motion to expedite the hearing on Google's preliminary-injunction motion were subject to the lower good-cause standard rather than the compelling-reasons standard because the motion was not more than tangentially related to the merits of the underlying action.
2. Google established good cause to seal the unpublished Brazilian court order and the quotations from that order because disclosure could subject Google to fines or penalties under the practices of the Superior Court of Justice in Brazil.
3. The requested sealing was narrowly tailored because it limited sealing to the quoted portions of the motion to expedite and the entire unpublished Brazilian order, and the court found no less restrictive alternative sufficient to protect the information.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Google established good cause to seal an unpublished Brazilian court order and quotations from that order filed in connection with a non-dispositive motion to expedite a hearing.
2. Whether the requested sealing was narrowly tailored under the applicable federal and local sealing standards.

Disposition

other