Dental Monitoring SAS v. Align Technology, Inc.

1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

8

9

10 DENTAL MONITORING SAS, 11 Plaintiff, No. C 22-07335 WHA

12 v.

13 ALIGN TECHNOLOGY, INC., ORDER RE PRE-SHOWDOWN

SEALING MOTIONS

14 Defendant.

15 16 This order addresses the administrative motions to seal filed before the “patent 17 showdown” round of summary judgment motions (Dkt. Nos. 75, 79). 18 There is a strong public policy in favor of openness in our court system and the public is 19 entitled to know to whom we are providing relief (or not) and why. See Kamakana v. City & 20 Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178–80 (9th Cir. 2006). Consequently, access to motions 21 and their attachments that are “more than tangentially related to the merits of a case” may be 22 sealed only upon a showing of “compelling reasons” for sealing. Ctr. for Auto Safety v. 23 Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1101–02 (9th Cir. 2016). Filings that are only tangentially 24 related to the merits may be sealed upon a lesser showing of “good cause.” Id. at 1097. The 25 compelling…