Paper 15
`Date: November 25, 2015
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Trials@uspto.gov
`571-272-7822
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`_____________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`____________
`
`J SQUARED, INC. d/b/a UNIVERSITY LOFT COMPANY,
`Petitioner,
`
`v.
`
`SAUDER MANUFACTURING COMPANY,
`Patent Owner.
`____________
`
`Cases1
`IPR2015-00774 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`IPR2015-00958 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`____________
`
`Before LINDA E. HORNER, JOSIAH C. COCKS, and
`JAMES A. WORTH, Administrative Patent Judges.
`
`HORNER, Administrative Patent Judge.
`
`
`
`ORDER
`Joint Motion to Seal and Expungement of Papers
`37 C.F.R. §§ 42.7, 42.14, and 42.54
`
`
`
`
`
`
`1 This order addresses issues raised in both cases. We exercise our
`discretion to issue one order to be filed in each case. The parties, however,
`are not authorized to use this style heading in subsequent papers.
`
`
`Date: November 25, 2015
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Trials@uspto.gov
`571-272-7822
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`_____________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`____________
`
`J SQUARED, INC. d/b/a UNIVERSITY LOFT COMPANY,
`Petitioner,
`
`v.
`
`SAUDER MANUFACTURING COMPANY,
`Patent Owner.
`____________
`
`Cases1
`IPR2015-00774 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`IPR2015-00958 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`____________
`
`Before LINDA E. HORNER, JOSIAH C. COCKS, and
`JAMES A. WORTH, Administrative Patent Judges.
`
`HORNER, Administrative Patent Judge.
`
`
`
`ORDER
`Joint Motion to Seal and Expungement of Papers
`37 C.F.R. §§ 42.7, 42.14, and 42.54
`
`
`
`
`
`
`1 This order addresses issues raised in both cases. We exercise our
`discretion to issue one order to be filed in each case. The parties, however,
`are not authorized to use this style heading in subsequent papers.
`
`
`
`IPR2015-00774 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`IPR2015-00958 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`
`
`INTRODUCTION
`
`I.
`
`
`
`After receiving authorization to do so by order of November 12, 2015,
`
`Patent Owner Sauder Manufacturing Company (“Patent Owner”) and
`
`Petitioner J Squared, Inc. d/b/a University Loft Company (“Petitioner”) filed
`
`a joint motion to seal the following documents in proceedings IPR2015-
`
`00774 and IPR2015-00958:
`
`(1) Declaration of Philip Bontrager
`
`(IPR2015-00774,
`
`Exhibit 2008, unredacted;
`
`IPR2015-00958, Exhibit 2072,
`
`unredacted) that “contains confidential financial information”;
`
`and
`
`(2) Excerpts from deposition transcripts of Mr. Justin Davis and
`
`Mr. Adam L. Anderson
`
`from a corresponding patent
`
`infringement litigation pending in the United States District
`
`Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Civil Action
`
`No. 3:14-cv-00962-JL (IPR2015-00774 and IPR2015-00958,
`
`Exhibits 2042 and 2043, unredacted), and corresponding
`
`Deposition Exhibits 53, 60, 61, 55, 48, 54, 56, 3, 7, 8, 13, and
`
`14
`
`(respectively,
`
`IPR2015-00774
`
`and
`
`IPR2015-00958,
`
`Exhibits 2058, 2059, 2060, 2061, 2062, 2063, 2064, 2065,
`
`2066, 2067, 2068, and 2069, unredacted), that “contain
`
`information Petitioner
`
`deems
`
`confidential
`
`commercial
`
`information, specifically customer names, vendor names and
`
`financial information.”
`
`Joint Motion to Seal (IPR2015-00772, Paper 12; IPR2015-00958, Paper 12),
`
`filed November 21, 2015 (“Mot. to Seal”). Patent Owner filed a redacted,
`
`public version and an unredacted, “Parties and Board Only” version of each
`
`2
`
`
`
`
`IPR2015-00774 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`IPR2015-00958 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`
`
`of the above-listed documents as exhibits to Patent Owner’s Response.
`
`
`
`Patent Owner’s Trial Response (IPR2015-00772, Paper 13; IPR2015-00958,
`
`Paper 13), filed November 21, 2015. The parties have agreed to treat the
`
`unredacted versions of these exhibits as “Protective Order Material” under
`
`the terms of the Board’s default protective order, an unexecuted copy of
`
`which the parties attached to the Joint Motion to Seal. Mot. to Seal
`
`(Exhibit 4001).
`
`At the Board’s request, the parties filed a Revised Joint Motion to
`
`Seal on November 23, 2015, to include an executed copy of the proposed
`
`protective order and to renumber the proposed protective order using the
`
`2000 series of exhibit numbers. Revised Joint Motion to Seal (IPR2015-
`
`00772, Paper 14, Exhibit 2070; IPR2015-00958, Paper 14, Exhibit 2073)
`
`(“Revised Mot. to Seal”). On the same day, in IPR2015-00958, Patent
`
`Owner filed Corrected unredacted (Parties and Board Only) versions of
`
`Exhibits 2042, 2043, 2058, 2059, 2060, 2061, 2062, 2063, 2064, 2065, 2066,
`
`2067, 2068, 2069, and 2072 to add an exhibit tag to each exhibit.
`
`There is a strong public policy for making all information filed in an
`
`inter partes review open to the public. As explained in 37 C.F.R. § 42.14,
`
`the record of a proceeding shall be made available to the public, except as
`
`otherwise ordered. The Board may, for good cause, issue an order to protect
`
`a party from disclosing confidential information. 37 C.F.R. § 42.54(a). Our
`
`rules identify confidential information in a manner consistent with Federal
`
`Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c)(1)(G), which provides for protective orders
`
`for trade secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial
`
`information. Office Patent Trial Practice Guide, 77 Fed. Reg. 48,756,
`
`48,760 (Aug. 14, 2012).
`
`3
`
`
`
`
`IPR2015-00774 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`IPR2015-00958 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`
`
`In its Motion to Seal, the parties indicate that the documents that are
`
`
`
`the subject of this motion “each include confidential commercial business
`
`information regarding customer and vendor names, as well as Petitioner’s
`
`confidential financial information.” Revised Mot. to Seal 2. The parties
`
`further certify that “the information associated with [each counsel’s] client
`
`for which counsel wishes protection has not been published or otherwise
`
`made public” and that “[t]he parties have undertaken efforts to maintain the
`
`confidentiality of this information in the related District Court proceeding.”
`
`Id. at 2‒3.
`
`Upon reviewing the materials sought to be sealed, and the parties’
`
`arguments regarding their confidential nature, we are persuaded that good
`
`cause exists to seal them. We also note that the redacted portions of the
`
`materials appear to be tailored narrowly to only confidential information.
`
`As the parties agreed to the Board’s Default Protective Order, and provided
`
`an executed copy of the same, the materials will be sealed pursuant to that
`
`order.
`
`The motion to seal will be conditionally granted for the duration of
`
`this proceeding. If the final written decision substantively relies on any
`
`information in a sealed document, the document may be unsealed by an
`
`Order of the Board. If any sealed document contains no information
`
`substantively relied on in the final written decision, a party may file a
`
`motion to expunge confidential information from the record. See 37 C.F.R.
`
`§ 42.56; Office Patent Trial Practice Guide, 77 Fed. Reg. 48,756, 48,761
`
`(Aug. 14, 2012).
`
`For the sake of maintaining an orderly record of these proceedings,
`
`the Board expunges the unexecuted copy of the proposed protective order
`
`4
`
`
`
`
`IPR2015-00774 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`IPR2015-00958 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`
`
`entered by the parties in each proceeding as Exhibit 4001. Also, the Board
`
`
`
`expunges the copies of the unredacted (Parties and Board Only) versions of
`
`Exhibits 2042, 2043, 2058, 2059, 2060, 2061, 2062, 2063, 2064, 2065, 2066,
`
`2067, 2068, 2069, and 2072, filed on November 21, 2015, which have now
`
`been corrected to add an exhibit tag to each exhibit.
`
`II. ORDER
`
`In consideration of the foregoing, it is hereby:
`
`ORDERED that the parties’ joint motion to seal in each proceeding
`
`(IPR2015-00774, Paper 14; IPR2015-00958, Paper 14) is granted;
`
`FURTHER ORDERED that the Default Protective Order (IPR2015-
`
`00774, Exhibit 2070; IPR2015-00958, Exhibit 2073) is entered and shall
`
`govern the treatment and filing of confidential information in the instant
`
`proceedings;
`
`FURTHER ORDERED that the unexecuted proposed protective order
`
`(IPR2015-00774, Exhibit 4001; IPR2015-00958, Exhibit 4001) is expunged
`
`from these proceedings; and
`
`FURTHER ORDERED that the unredacted (Parties and Board Only)
`
`versions of Exhibits 2042, 2043, 2058, 2059, 2060, 2061, 2062, 2063, 2064,
`
`2065, 2066, 2067, 2068, 2069, and 2072, filed on November 21, 2015, are
`
`expunged from IPR2015-00958.
`
`5
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`
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`IPR2015-00774 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`IPR2015-00958 (Patent 8,585,136 B2)
`
`
`PETITIONER:
`
`William F. Bahret
`Bahret & Associates LLC
`bahret@bahretlaw.com
`
`Stephen F. Rost
`Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
`SRost@taftlaw.com
`
`PATENT OWNER:
`
`Thomas N. Young
`Young Basile Hanlon & MacFarlane P.C.
`litigation@youngbasile.com
`
`Timothy Eagle
`Varnum Riddering Schmidt & Howlett LLP
`teeagle@varnumlaw.com
`
`
`
`6
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