Trade Secret Documents Remain Sealed
The District Court of Minnesota kept trade secret documents sealed in an access to judicial records case. See Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. v. Aspen II Holding Co., Inc., 2006 WL 3079410 (D.Minn. 10/24/06).
Cardiac and Aspen were involved in a trade secret dispute and by agreement of the parties, the court entered a protective order. The court granted partial summary judgment to Cardiac; the briefs and supporting documents remained under seal. The parties settled the dispute, and the court dismissed all claims .
Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, moved to intervene to unseal the summary judgment briefs and supporting documents. Its argument was based on the common law right of access to judicial records. See Webster Groves Sch. Dist. v. Pulitzer Publ'g Co., 898 F.2d 1371 (8th Cir. 1990).
After conducting an in camera review of documents containing trade secrets, the court found there was no reasonable alternative to keeping these documents sealed. However, the court held that the summary judgment briefs would be unsealed in their entirety.
