Jane Doe, by and through next friend John Doe, Richard Robinson, Yolanda Brown, Jonathan Leblond, Patricia Orris, Angela Stevens, Jessica Jackson, Melissa Oatman, Justin Revelo, and Taylor Vall, on behalf of themselves and all other persons similarly situated v. Apple Inc.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois addresses four motions by Apple Inc. to maintain information under seal in a putative class action. The court grants two motions in full and two in part, finding that much of the material contains confidential intellectual property, research and development information, source code, and technical details, while identifying three documents that do not warrant continued sealing. The court states that it will revisit the propriety of sealing the information at the conclusion of the case.

Holdings

1. Documents that affect the disposition of federal litigation are presumptively open to public inspection, although the presumption may be rebutted for trade secrets or other bona fide long-term confidential information, or when a statute, rule, or privilege justifies confidentiality.
2. Apple established good cause to maintain most of the challenged materials under seal because they contained intellectual property, research and development information, and source code whose disclosure could provide others with a competitive and economic advantage, but three identified documents did not contain trade secrets or proprietary business information and were not properly kept under seal.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the materials Apple sought to seal were judicial records subject to the presumption of public access.
2. Whether Apple demonstrated good cause to maintain particular documents or portions of documents under seal because they contained trade secrets, proprietary business information, or other information warranting confidentiality.

Disposition

other