Millennium Dental Technologies, Inc. v. Fotona D.D.

NOTE: This order is n0nprecedentia1. United States Court of AppeaIs for the FederaI Circuit MILLENNIUM DENTAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC., Plaintiff~Appellant, ' V. FOTONA D.D., Defendo:n,t-Appellee. 2010-1428 __ Appeal from the United States District C0urt for the Centra1 District of Calif0rnia in case n0. 09-CV-1792, Judge Manue1 L. Real. ON MOTION Bet`ore GAJARsA, MAYER, and PR0sT, Circui.»: Ju,dges. GAJARSA, Circuit Judg‘e. 0 R D E R Mi11ennium Denta1 TechnoI0gies, Inc. (Mi11enniun1) moves for a stay, pending disposition of this appeal, of the district c0urt’s Septe1nber 30, 2010 Order and February '7, l\/llLLENNIU`M DENTAL V FOTONA DD 2 2011 contempt proceedings Fotona D.D. (Fotona) op- poses. 1 Millennium moves for leave to tile a reply The power to stay an injunction pending appeal is part of a court’s "‘traditional equipment for the admini- stration of justice.”’ Nken v. H0lder, 129 S.Ct. 1749, 1757 (2009) (citing Scripps-H0ward Radi0, Inc. v. FC'C', 316 U.S. 4, 9-10 (1942)). A stay, however, is not a matter of right but instead an exercise of judicial discretion. Nken, 129 S.Ct at 1761. The party requesting a stay bears the burden of showing that the circumstances justify an exercise of that discretion based on consideration of four factors, the first two of which are the most critical: (1) whether the stay applicant has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits; (2) whether.the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay; (3) whether issuance of the stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the proceeding; and (4) where the public interest lies. Hilton v. Braun,skil1.", 481 U.S. 770, 776 (1987). Based on the arguments in the motions papers, and without prejudicing the ultimate disposition of this case by a merits panel, we determine that Millennium has met its burden to obtain a stay of the district court’s Septem- ber 30, 2010 Order enforcing a settlement agreement between the parties. Accordingly, IT Is ORDERE:o THAT: The motions are granted. 1 This court previously issued an order stating “[t]he district court should hold in abeyance its contempt proceedings pending this court’s ruling on the motion to stay." 3 MILLENN"lUM DENTAL V. FOTONA DD JUN 22 2011 Date ccc James S. Azadian, Esq. Philip J. GraVes, Esq. FOR THE COURT /s/ Jan Horbal_v J an Horbaly Clerk § §§ 11 §5"2 150 1-fm ~=_z¥W JUN ms F0n soon 2011 1AN HDRBALY no CLERK