On Tuesday (Feb. 25), a federal judge in North Carolina granted requests by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. and Philip Morris’ parent company, Altria, to seal documents in their ongoing royalty dispute, keeping details of their licensing agreements with the vape brand JUUL confidential.
“The court ruled that the agreements contained sensitive business information — including financial terms, licensing strategies and negotiation details — that could harm competitive standing, and all six motions to seal were granted,” Andrea Keckley wrote for Law360.
The court found that an amendment to a licensing agreement between Altria and JUUL and a copy of a licensing agreement between the two were confidential and that disclosing them would “harm the party’s competitive standing or otherwise harm its business interests.” The filings stem RJR’s bid for relief against a $95 million judgement after a jury sided with Altria in a 2022 patent infringement case. The defense has argued that it should receive relief because a deal with Juul sublicensed the asserted patents.
“Ultimately, however, this court need not decide whether the documents or hearing are protected by the First Amendment’s right of access, because even assuming the First Amendment standard applies, movants have put forth compelling interests in sealing the order and the proposed sealing is narrowly tailored such that the First Amendment right of access has been overcome,” U.S. District Judge William Lindsay Osteen Jr wrote. “Although this court has considered less drastic alternatives to sealing, the parties have already redacted their filings so as to allow public access to as much information as possible without compromising sensitive business information,” he wrote. “It is this court’s view that the parties’ proposed redactions reflect the least drastic alternative at this time.”
