MGM Resorts International Operations, Inc. v. Tylt, Inc., No. 2:2020cv02250 - Document 86 (D. Nev. 2023)
Court Description: ORDER granting 85 Stipulation to Unseal ECF Nos. 72, 79; File Redacted Versions of ECF Nos. 70, 73-76, 79-80; Remain Sealed ECF Nos. 70, 73-76, 79-80 re Motion Hearing 84 . Signed by Judge Cristina D. Silva on 9/6/2023. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - DXS)
Download PDF
<![CDATA[
MGM Resorts International Operations, Inc. v. Tylt, Inc. Doc. 86 Case 2:20-cv-02250-CDS-VCF Document 86 Filed 09/06/23 Page 1 of 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lawrence J. Semenza, III, Esq., Bar No. 7174 Email: ljs@skrlawyers.com Christopher D. Kircher, Esq., Bar No. 11176 Email: cdk@skrlawyers.com Katie L. Cannata, Esq., Bar No. 14848 Email: klc@skrlawyers.com SEMENZA KIRCHER RICKARD 10161 Park Run Drive, Ste. 150 Las Vegas, Nevada 89145 Telephone: (702) 835-6803 Facsimile: (702) 920-8669 Attorneys for Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant MGM Resorts International Operations, Inc. 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 DISTRICT OF NEVADA SEMENZA KIRCHER RICKARD 10161 Park Run Drive, Suite 150 Las Vegas, Nevada 89145 Telephone: (702) 835-6803 11 12 MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS, INC., a Nevada corporation, STIPULATION AND PROPOSED ORDER TO: 13 Plaintiff 14 CDS CASE NO. 2:20-cv-02250-JAD-VCF v. 1. UNSEAL ECF NOS. 72, 79 16 TYLT, INC., a Delaware corporation, 2. FILE REDACTED VERSIONS OF ECF NOS. 70, 73-76, 79-80 17 Defendant ______________________________________ 3. REMAIN SEALED ECF NOS. 70, 73TYLT, INC. a Delaware corporation, 76, 79-80 15 18 19 Counterclaimant 20 vs. 21 22 MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS, INC., a Nevada corporation, 23 Counter-Defendant 24 25 26 Plaintiff MGM Resorts International Operations, Inc. ("MGM") and Defendant Tylt, Inc. 27 ("Tylt") (collectively, the "Parties"), by and through their undersigned counsel of record, submit 28 /// 1 Dockets.Justia.com Case 2:20-cv-02250-CDS-VCF Document 86 Filed 09/06/23 Page 2 of 8 1 this Stipulation pursuant to the Court's Order [ECF No. 84] related to their respective Motions to 2 File Under Seal certain filings in this matter and states as follows: SEMENZA KIRCHER RICKARD 10161 Park Run Drive, Suite 150 Las Vegas, Nevada 89145 Telephone: (702) 835-6803 3 1. On August 24, 2023, the Court held a hearing on MGM's Motion for Summary 4 Judgment or Partial Summary Judgment [ECF No. 70] (the "MSJ"). At the hearing, the Court 5 ordered the parties to meet and confer to determine whether ECF Nos. 70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 79, 6 and 80 need to be sealed as previously moved for by the parties. See ECF No. 84. These court 7 filings consist of: 8 a. ECF No. 70: MGM's MSJ with Appendices of Exhibits (Volumes I and II). 9 b. ECF No. 72: Tylt's Notice of Evidentiary Objections to MSJ. 10 c. ECF No. 73: Tylt's Response to Motion to MGM's MSJ (the "MSJ Response"). 11 d. ECF No. 74: Tylt's Declaration in support of MSJ Response. 12 e. ECF No. 75: Tylt's Declaration of Rami Rostami in support of MSJ Response. 13 f. ECF No. 76: Tylt's Declaration of Larry Steven in support of MSJ Response. 14 g. ECF No. 79: MGM's Response to Tylt's Notice of Evidentiary Objections to MSJ. 15 h. ECF No. 80: MGM's Reply and Objection to MSJ Response with exhibits (the 16 "Reply Brief"). 17 18 2. Due to the commercially sensitive nature of the documents and information being 19 exchanged by the parties during this lawsuit, as well as the confidentiality provision within the 20 parties' Corporate Sponsorship Agreement (the contract at issue in this lawsuit), the parties 21 entered into a Stipulated Protective Order [ECF No. 21] and had submitted the above-mentioned 22 filings by filing respective Motions to File Under Seal. 23 3. Pursuant to the Order [ECF No. 84], the Court ordered that: (1) the parties should 24 file a stipulation if they could agree to fully or partially unseal the court filings, and/or (2) if 25 parties do not agree, then a motion should be filed and the particular party needs to meet the 26 "compelling reason" standard articulated below on why the document needs to remain sealed. At 27 the hearing, the Court stated that if the parties agreed to re-file redacted copies, a motion would 28 not be necessary. 2 Case 2:20-cv-02250-CDS-VCF Document 86 Filed 09/06/23 Page 3 of 8 1 While there exists a strong presumption in favor of access to court records and 2 documents, Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003), this 3 general right to public documents is not absolute. Nixon v. Warner Commc'ns, 435 U.S. 589, 4 598 (1978). Pursuant to Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172 (2006), 5 parties seeking an order to seal court records must articulate "compelling reasons" supported by 6 factual findings that outweigh the general history of access and the public policies favoring 7 disclosure. 8 disclosure and justify sealing court records exist when such 'court files might have become a 9 vehicle for improper purposes,' such as the use of records to gratify private spite, promote public 10 11 SEMENZA KIRCHER RICKARD 10161 Park Run Drive, Suite 150 Las Vegas, Nevada 89145 Telephone: (702) 835-6803 4. "In general, 'compelling reasons' sufficient to outweigh the public's interest in scandal, circulate libelous statements, or release trade secrets." Id. at 1179. 5. "Commercially sensitive information that could hurt" a party's "competitive 12 standing unless they are sealed" qualifies as a compelling reason. Snap Lock Industries, Inc. v. 13 Swisstrax Corporation, No. 2:17-cv-02742-RFB-BNW, 2021 WL 3082561 (D. Nev. July 21, 14 2021); Selling Source, LLC v. Red River Ventures, 2011 WL 1630338 * 6 (D. Nev. Apr. 29, 15 2011) ("Where the material includes information about proprietary business operations, a 16 company's business model or agreements with clients, there are compelling reasons to seal the 17 material because possible infringement of trade secrets outweighs the general public interest in 18 understanding the judicial process."); see also Nixon, 435 U.S. at 598 ("business information that 19 might harm a litigant's competitive standing" is a compelling reason to seal); Ctr. For Auto 20 Safety v. Chrysler Group, LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1097 (9th Cir. 2016) (harm to party's competitive 21 standing is a "compelling reason" sufficient to seal business information). 22 6. On August 31, 2023, counsel for the parties held a lengthy meet and confer 23 telephone conference to address in good faith the Court's Order [ECF No. 84] and the 24 commercially sensitive information that warrants protection from disclosure. 25 26 27 28 7. During the meet and confer, the parties agreed that the following filings may be unsealed and will not be re-filed with redactions by the parties: ECF Nos. 72, 79. 8. During the meet and confer, the parties agreed to protect the general public's interest in understanding the judicial process that the following filings, upon the Court's approval 3 Case 2:20-cv-02250-CDS-VCF Document 86 Filed 09/06/23 Page 4 of 8 1 of this Stipulation, shall be re-filed with redactions. The current, unredacted filings shall 2 remain filed under seal to protect commercially sensitive information that other businesses could 3 utilize to gain an advantage against Tylt and MGM if they were privy to the confidential 4 information: a. ECF Nos. 70 Redacted: 5 a. Redactions to portions of the confidential, commercially sensitive and 6 proprietary Corporate Sponsorship Agreement (Exhibit 1(A)); SEMENZA KIRCHER RICKARD 10161 Park Run Drive, Suite 150 Las Vegas, Nevada 89145 Telephone: (702) 835-6803 7 8 b. Minimal redactions to the portions of Gerard Casale deposition transcript 9 (Exhibit 3) which relate to the confidential business dealings, operations, 10 and specific amounts/terms of the Corporate Sponsorship Agreement; 11 c. Minimal redactions to the portions of Daniel Curzon deposition transcript 12 (Exhibit 4) which relate to the confidential business dealings, operations, 13 and specific amounts/terms under the Corporate Sponsorship Agreement; 14 d. Redactions to confidential term sheet e-mails (Exhibit 5) and terms sheets 15 exchanged between the parties which are confidential business dealings, 16 negotiations and/or operations; 17 e. One redaction to MGM's 30(b)(6) witness deposition transcript (Exhibit 6) 18 which relates to the specific confidential terms and product orders between 19 Tylt and MGM; 20 f. Minimal redactions to the portions of Shaun Gogna's deposition transcript 21 (Exhibit 7) which relate to the sensitive business dealings, business 22 operations, and specific amounts/terms under the Corporate Sponsorship 23 Agreement; 24 g. Redactions to confidential e-mails attaching the finalized term sheet 25 between Tylt and MGM (Exhibit 9) which relate to sensitive business 26 dealings and confidential negotiations of the agreement at issue; 27 /// 28 /// 4 Case 2:20-cv-02250-CDS-VCF Document 86 Filed 09/06/23 Page 5 of 8 1 h. Redactions to drafts of redlined Corporate Sponsorship Agreement 2 (Exhibit 10) which are sensitive business dealings and confidential 3 negotiations for the agreement at issue; 4 i. Redactions to Corporate Sponsorship Agreement and related e-mails 5 (Exhibit 11) which are sensitive business dealings and confidential 6 negotiations for the agreement at issue; 7 j. Minimal redactions to the cited portions of Rami Rostami deposition 8 transcript (Exhibit 12) related to confidential business dealings, business 9 operations, and specific amounts/obligations under the Corporate SEMENZA KIRCHER RICKARD 10161 Park Run Drive, Suite 150 Las Vegas, Nevada 89145 Telephone: (702) 835-6803 10 Sponsorship Agreement; 11 k. Redactions to the cited portions of Aimee Wenske's deposition transcript 12 (Exhibit 13) related to other MGM sponsorship deals/negotiations, 13 confidential business dealings, and the operations of MGM; 14 l. Redactions to Tylt Spreadsheets (Exhibit 14) identifying the specific 15 amount of product ordered by MGM, and pricing, which constitute 16 sensitive and confidential commercial information; 17 m. Redactions to e-mails (Exhibit 15) which contain the specific amount of 18 product ordered by MGM Grand which constitute sensitive business 19 information, dealings, negotiations and operations of the parties; 20 n. Redactions to a spreadsheet identifying Tylt's hospitality credit provided 21 by MGM (Exhibit 16) which constitutes sensitive and confidential 22 business information; 23 24 o. Redactions to confidential e-mails (Exhibit 17) discussing sensitive business information, dealings, negotiations and operations of MGM; 25 p. Redactions to e-mails (Exhibit 18) which contain the specific amount of 26 product ordered by MGM Grand which constitute sensitive and 27 confidential business information, dealings, negotiations and operations of 28 MGM; 5 SEMENZA KIRCHER RICKARD 10161 Park Run Drive, Suite 150 Las Vegas, Nevada 89145 Telephone: (702) 835-6803 Case 2:20-cv-02250-CDS-VCF Document 86 Filed 09/06/23 Page 6 of 8 1 q. Redactions of data on Tylt produced spreadsheets (Exhibit 23) that 2 purportedly identifies Tylt's sales, quantity of product ordered by MGM, 3 and prices, which constitute sensitive and confidential business 4 information. 5 b. ECF No. 73 Redacted: Minimal redactions to parts of Tylt's MSJ Response 6 purportedly addressing MGM's operations, internal workings, negotiations, 7 retail/commercial opportunities, and amount of sales, which constitute sensitive 8 and confidential business information, dealings, and operations of MGM. 9 c. ECF No. 74 Redacted: Redactions to the portions of Rami Rostami deposition 10 transcript not cited by Tylt in its Response to the MSJ which relate to the 11 confidential business dealings, MGM's operations, and specific amounts/terms of 12 the Corporate Sponsorship Agreement. 13 unredacted. 14 The remainder of the document is d. ECF No. 75 Redacted: 15 a. Redactions to the portions of Rami Rostami's Declaration purportedly 16 addressing MGM's operations and amount of sales, which constitute 17 sensitive business information, dealings, and operations; 18 b. Redactions to e-mail (Exhibit A) discussing MGM's operations and 19 negotiations, which constitute sensitive business information, dealings, 20 and operation; 21 22 c. Redactions to portions of the confidential and proprietary Corporate Sponsorship Agreement (part of Exhibit A); 23 d. Redactions to Tylt produced spreadsheets (Exhibit B) to data that 24 purportedly identifies Tylt's sales, quantity of product ordered by MGM 25 and prices which constitute sensitive business information. 26 e. ECF No. 76 Redacted: Redactions to Lary Londre Expert Report (Exhibit A), 27 which relies heavily on, and directly quotes from, confidential e-mails and 28 deposition testimony, purportedly addressing MGM's operations, internal 6 Case 2:20-cv-02250-CDS-VCF Document 86 Filed 09/06/23 Page 7 of 8 1 workings, strategy, negotiations, retail/commercial opportunities, other unrelated 2 business partners/vendors of MGM's and amount of product sales, which 3 constitute sensitive business information, dealings, and operations. f. ECF No. 80 Redacted: 4 5 a. Redactions to the Expert Report of Professor Gary Frazier (Exhibit 2) 6 related to the confidential and sensitive business dealings and operations 7 of MGM and Tylt 1; 8 b. Redactions to parts of the attached portions of Rami Rostami's Deposition 9 Transcript (Exhibit 3) related to the confidential and sensitive business dealings and operations; SEMENZA KIRCHER RICKARD 10161 Park Run Drive, Suite 150 Las Vegas, Nevada 89145 Telephone: (702) 835-6803 10 11 c. Redactions to parts of the spreadsheets accompany Rami Rostami's 12 Deposition Transcript (Exhibit 3) that set forth quantities and costs for 13 Tylt products provided to MGM, which are commercially sensitive and 14 confidential. 9. 15 Again, to protect the general public's interest in understanding the judicial 16 process, the parties have stipulated to re-file ECF Nos. 70, 73, 74, 75, 76 and 80 with redactions 17 as set forth above. The above redactions relate to information about proprietary business 18 operations, agreements with partners/vendors, confidential contract negotiations and purchasing 19 needs in the highly competitive gaming and mobile charging industry which might harm the 20 parties competitive standing. Nixon, 435 U.S. at 598. As a result, these justifications meet the 21 "compelling reasons" standard to seal the material because it outweighs the general public's 22 interest in understanding the judicial process under the circumstances. 23 /// 24 /// 25 /// 26 1 27 28 As explained in the Reply Brief [ECF No. 80], MGM submitted Professor Frazier's Rebuttal Report not for the substance of the report or the truth of the matters asserted therein, but to establish that TYLT is aware that MGM is contesting Tylt's expert's opinions. Thus, the redacted material does not benefit the public at all. 7 Case 2:20-cv-02250-CDS-VCF Document 86 Filed 09/06/23 Page 8 of 8 1 ACCORDINGLY, IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED between 2 the parties for the Court to: (a) unseal ECF Nos. 72 and 79; (b) grant the parties leave to re-file 3 with redactions ECF Nos. 70, 73, 74, 75, 76 and 80; and (c) preserve and keep filed under seal 4 the un-redacted versions of ECF Nos. 70, 73, 74, 75, 76 and 80. 5 DATED this 5th day of September, 2023. DATED this 5th day of September, 2023. 6 SEMENZA KIRCHER RICKARD NOVIAN & NOVIAN LLP 7 /s/ Christopher D. Kircher Lawrence J. Semenza, III, Esq., Bar No. 7174 Christopher D. Kircher, Esq., Bar No. 11176 Jarrod L. Rickard, Esq., Bar No. 10203 Katie L. Cannata, Esq., Bar No. 14848 10161 Park Run Drive, Suite 150 Las Vegas, Nevada 89145 Attorneys for MGM Resorts International Operations, Inc. /s/ Andrew B. Goodman_________ Farhad Novian, Esq. (Pro Hac Vice Admitted) Andrew B. Goodman, Esq. (Pro Hac Vice Admitted) 1801 Century Park East, Suite 1201 Los Angeles, CA. 90067 & SHUMWAY VAN Garrett R. Chase, Esq., Bar No. 14498 8985 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 100 Las Vegas, Nevada 89123 Attorneys for TYLT, Inc. 8 9 10 11 SEMENZA KIRCHER RICKARD 10161 Park Run Drive, Suite 150 Las Vegas, Nevada 89145 Telephone: (702) 835-6803 10. 12 13 14 15 16 17 IT IS SO ORDERED. 18 ______________________________________ United States District Judge 19 20 Dated: ________________________________ September 6, 2023 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 8
]]>
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You
should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Service apply.
