Opinion

1

2

3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

4 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

5 SAN JOSE DIVISION

6

7 RAILWARE, INC., Case No. 5:25-cv-05725-BLF

8 Plaintiff,

v. ORDER GRANTING

9 ADMINISTRATIVE SEALING

PENINSULA CORRIDOR JOINT MOTIONS

10 POWERS BOARD,

[Re: ECF Nos. 133, 134, 135]

11 Defendant.

12

13

14 Before the Court are two sealing motions and one administrative motion to consider

15 whether another party’s materials should be sealed. See ECF Nos. 133 (Railware’s administrative

16 motion to consider sealing), 134 (Railware’s sealing motion), 135 (Caltrain’s sealing motion).

17 The two sealing motions are unopposed, and Caltrain has filed a supporting declaration in support

18 of sealing with respect to Railware’s administrative motions to consider sealing. See ECF

19 No. 139. The motions concern whether to seal portions of the briefing in connection with

20 Railware’s reply in support of its motion for leave to amend infringement contentions and

21 Caltrain’s reply in support of its motion to dismiss.

22 The motions are GRANTED.

23 I. LEGAL STANDARD

24 “Historically, courts have recognized a ‘general right to inspect and copy public records

25 and documents, including judicial records and documents.’” Kamakana v. City & Cty. of

26 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc.,

27 435 U.S. 589, 597 & n. 7 (1978)). Accordingly, when considering a sealing request, “a ‘strong

1 Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003)). Parties seeking to seal judicial records relating to

2 motions that are “more than tangentially related to the underlying cause of action” bear the burden

3 of overcoming the presumption with “compelling reasons” that outweigh the general history of

4 access and the public policies favoring disclosure. Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., 809 F.3d

5 1092, 1099 (9th Cir. 2016); see also Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178–79.

6 In addition to making particularized showings of compelling reasons for sealing, parties

7 moving to seal documents must comply with the local civil rules, which provide that a sealing

8 order is appropriate only upon a request that establishes the document is “sealable,” or “privileged

9 or protectable as a trade secret or otherwise entitled to protection under the law.” Civ. L.R. 79-

10 5(b). Civil Local Rule 79-5(d) requires the submitting party to attach a “proposed order that is

11 narrowly tailored to seal only the sealable material” which “lists in table format each document or

12 portion thereof that is sought to be sealed” and an “unredacted version of the document” that

13 indicates “by highlighting or other clear method, the portions of the document that have been

14 omitted from the redacted version.” Civ. L.R. 79-5(d)(1)(b), (d). “Within 4 days of the filing of

15 the Administrative Motion to File Under Seal, the Designating Party must file a declaration . . .

16 establishing that all of the designated material is sealable.” Civ. L.R. 79-5(e)(1).

17 II. DISCUSSION

18 The portions identified in the sealing motions are narrowly tailored to protect confidential

19 information that, if publicly disclosed, may cause competitive harm and for which compelling

20 reasons to seal have been established.

21 The sealable information in Railware’s exhibits to Railware’s Reply In Support of its

22 Motion for Leave to Amend Infringement Contentions includes confidential license agreements

23 and licensing practices, including customers, sales data, payment terms, and prior litigation

24 settlement information. Courts in the Ninth Circuit regularly seal information related to

25 confidential license and settlement agreements. See, e.g., In re Elec. Arts, Inc., 298 F. App’x 568,

26 569 (9th Cir. 2008) (nonprecedential); Lenovo (United States) Inc. v. IPCom GmbH & Co., KG,

27 No. 19-cv-01389-EJD, 2022 WL 2313948, at *2 (N.D. Cal. June 28, 2022) (explaining that

1 standing). These exhibits also contain references to proprietary technical information that if

2 disclosed could cause competitive harm. See DSS Tech. Mgmt., Inc. v. Apple, Inc., No. 14-cv-

3 05330- HSG, 2020 WL 789549, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 18, 2020) (sealing “information regarding

4 the identity and operations of third party supplied components in [the party’s] products”).

5 The sealable information in Caltrain’s Reply in Support of its Motion to Dismiss contains

6 similar sealable information, including technical documentation of the internal implementation,

7 use, and functionality of certain components and systems. See, e.g., Laatz v. Zazzle, Inc., No. 22-

8 cv-04844-BLF, 2024 WL 4493441, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 25, 2024) (finding compelling reasons

9 to seal source code related to business operations); VLSI Tech. LLC v. Intel Corp., No. 17-cv-

10 05671-BLF, 2024 WL 1548481, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 8, 2024) (finding compelling reasons to seal

11 “information regarding its past and current intellectual property licensing and monetization

12 objectives, strategies, practices, capabilities, and efforts”); City of Birmingham Relief & Ret. Sys.

13 v. Hastings, No. 18-cv-02107-BLF, 2019 WL 3815720, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 4, 2019) (explaining

14 that information disclosing “internal operating procedures” may be sealed).

15 III. ORDER

16 The sealing motions are accordingly GRANTED. The Court finds compelling reasons to

17 seal the materials as indicated in the tables below:

18 ECF Document & Portions to Granted/Denied

No. Seal

19

133-2 Railware’s Reply In GRANTED. The identified portions contain confidential

20 Support of its Motion for information relating to confidential license and settlement

Leave to Amend its agreements, licensing practices, and other confidential

21 Infringement business dealings. Public disclosure of this information

Contentions: would cause harm to the Parties.

22

23 Highlighted portions at 5,

14.

24

25

26

27

1 133-3 Supplemental Declaration GRANTED. The exhibit contains confidential information

in Support of Railware’s relating to confidential license and settlement agreements,

2 Reply In Support of its licensing practices, and other confidential business

Motion for Leave to dealings. Public disclosure of this information would cause

3 Amend its Infringement harm to the Parties.

Contentions:

4

5 Highlighted portions at 5–

7.

6

133-4 Exhibit S to Railware’s GRANTED. The identified portions contain confidential

7 Reply In Support of its information relating to confidential license and settlement

Motion for Leave to agreements, licensing practices, and other confidential

8 Amend its Infringement business dealings. Public disclosure of this information

Contentions: would cause harm to the Parties.

9

10 Sealed in entirety.

11 133-5 Exhibit T to Railware’s GRANTED. The exhibit contains confidential information

Reply In Support of its relating to confidential license and settlement agreements,

12 Motion for Leave to licensing practices, and other confidential business

Amend its Infringement dealings. Public disclosure of this information would cause

13 Contentions: harm to the Parties.

Sealed in entirety.

14

133-6 Exhibit U to Railware’s GRANTED. The identified portions contain confidential

15 Reply In Support of its information relating to confidential license and settlement

Motion for Leave to agreements, licensing practices, and other confidential

16 Amend its Infringement business dealings. Public disclosure of this information

Contentions: would cause harm to the Parties.

17

18 Sealed in entirety.

19 133-7 Exhibit V to Railware’s GRANTED. The exhibit contains confidential information

Reply In Support of its relating to confidential license and settlement agreements,

20 Motion for Leave to licensing practices, and other confidential business

Amend its Infringement dealings. Public disclosure of this information would cause

21 Contentions: harm to the Parties.

22 Sealed in entirety.

23 133-8 Exhibit W to Railware’s GRANTED. The identified portions contain confidential

Reply In Support of its information relating to confidential license and settlement

24 Motion for Leave to agreements, licensing practices, and other confidential

Amend its Infringement business dealings. Public disclosure of this information

25 Contentions: would cause harm to the Parties.

26

Sealed in entirety.

27

1 133-9 | Exhibit X to Railware’s GRANTED. The exhibit contains confidential information

Reply In Support of its relating to confidential license and settlement agreements,

2 Motion for Leave to licensing practices, and other confidential business

Amend its Infringement dealings. Public disclosure of this information would caus«

3 Contentions: harm to the Parties.

4 Sealed in entirety.

133-10 | Exhibit Y to Railware’s GRANTED. The identified portions contain confidential

5 Reply In Support of its information relating to confidential license and settlement

Motion for Leave to agreements, licensing practices, and other confidential

6 Amend its Infringement business dealings. Public disclosure of this information

7 Contentions: would cause harm to the Parties.

8 Sealed in entirety.

9 133- | Exhibit Z to Railware’s GRANTED. The exhibit contains confidential information

11/134- | Reply In Support of its relating to confidential license and settlement agreements,

10 3 Motion for Leave to licensing practices, and other confidential business

Amend its Infringement dealings. Public disclosure of this information would caus«

1 Contentions: harm to the Parties.

3s 12 Highlighted portions at 8—

12, 15, 17, 19-42, 54-73,

13 75-77, 83-86.

5 14 133- | Exhibit AA to Railware’s | GRANTED. The exhibit contains confidential information

12/134- | Reply In Support of its relating to confidential license and settlement agreements,

15 4 Motion for Leave to licensing practices, and other confidential business

Amend its Infringement dealings. Public disclosure of this information would caus«

A 16 Contentions: harm to the Parties.

Highlighted portions at 9—

ol 12, 15, 18, 20-42, 44-48,

2 —74, 76- 4-88.

55-74, 76-78, 84-88

1 135-2 | Caltrain’s Reply In GRANTED. The exhibit contains confidential information

9 Support of its Motion for | relating to confidential license and settlement agreements,

> Leave to Amend its licensing practices, and other confidential business

0 Infringement dealings. Public disclosure of this information would caus«

>] Contentions: harm to the Parties.

Highlighted portions at 1-

22 7, 9-10.

23 IT IS SO ORDERED.

24 |! Dated: July 28, 2026

TH LABSON FREEMAN

United States District Judge

27

28