Impossible Foods Inc. v. Impossible X LLC

Summary

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled on two administrative motions concerning the sealing of materials related to Impossible Foods Inc.'s motion for partial summary judgment. The court granted the motion to seal Impossible Foods' materials and granted in part and denied in part the motion concerning materials designated confidential by defendants. The court applied the compelling-reasons standard and ordered refiling of certain materials by September 29, 2025.

Holdings

1. Materials submitted with a motion for partial summary judgment that are more than tangentially related to the merits may be sealed only upon a showing of compelling reasons.
2. Compelling reasons supported sealing the identified portions of Impossible Foods Inc.'s motion for partial summary judgment and exhibits because they contained confidential marketing and financial information whose disclosure could harm Impossible Foods' competitive standing.
3. Compelling reasons supported sealing specified portions of Defendants' materials containing competitively sensitive business information and personally identifiable information, but unsupported portions were not sealed.

Questions Presented

1. Whether portions of Impossible Foods Inc.'s motion for partial summary judgment and supporting exhibits containing confidential marketing and financial information should be sealed.
2. Whether materials designated confidential by Defendants should be sealed under the compelling-reasons standard and Civil Local Rule 79-5.
3. Whether the requested sealing was narrowly tailored to protect competitively sensitive business information and personally identifiable information.

Disposition

other