LEONARD B. SAND, District Judge.
Plaintiff Jewelry International, Inc. ("Prestige"), previously moved this Court, on March 12, 2012, for a stay pending the outcome of the United States Patent & Trademark Office ("USPTO")'s reexamination of the patent — in-suit, U.S. Design Patent No. 618,132 ("the Patent"), belonging to Defendant Wing Yee Gems & Jewellery Limited ("Wing Yee"). On March 27, 2011, this Court issued a Memorandum & Order ("M&O") denying Prestige's motion.
Prestige now moves for reconsideration of the M&O.
Reconsideration of a previous order by the Court is an "extraordinary remedy to be employed sparingly in the interests of finality and conservation of scarce judicial resources."
To prevail, the movant must demonstrate "an intervening change in controlling law, the availability of new evidence, or the need to correct a clear error or prevent manifest injustice."
Prestige argues, in essence, that changed circumstances justify a different outcome. When this Court entertained Prestige's first motion to stay, the USPTO had not yet granted Prestige's request for reexamination. Now it has. Prestige Memo 3. Prestige argues that the USPTO grant means that this Court should grant its request for a stay. We disagree.
"There are three factors a court should take into consideration when deciding whether to stay litigation pending a patent reexamination: (1) whether a stay will simplify the issues in question and trial of the case; (2) the stage of the proceedings; and (3) whether a stay will unduly prejudice the nonmoving party."
We begin with the first factor, simplification of the issues. It goes without saying that a USPTO reexamination will simplify the issues in question, if only by informing this Court's determination of the validity of the Patent. When we first considered this question in March, however, we noted that regardless of the USPTO's determination, this Court would have to rule on the Patent's validity. M&O at *8. Prestige now argues that this Court was wrong on the law—that, in fact, a USPTO invalidation effectively ends the case. Prestige Memo 4-5. This is a surprising argument given that Prestige had previously conceded that because it is seeking an ex parte reexamination under 356 U.S.C. § 302 rather than an inter partes reexamination under 35 U.S.C. § 315(c), the USPTO's ruling does not have stringent estoppel or
Prestige was correct the first time round. The cases it cites in support of its new position are inapposite, since both concern motions to stay pending
In our analysis of factor (2) in the M&O, we found that it "weighted] in favor of a stay—but only marginally so." M&O at *8. As we noted in reaching that conclusion back in March, "courts in this circuit have denied a stay where discovery was rapidly approaching completion or where discovery was two months from completion." M&O at *7 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). In March, discovery's end was approximately five months away. Discovery is now set to close in approximately six weeks, pursuant to yet another request for an extension by Prestige.
"Prejudice as a factor for granting or denying a stay is to be considered on the basis of whether a stay would unduly prejudice or present a clear tactical disadvantage to the nonmoving party."
Prestige now argues that "the possibility of continuing damages pending a stay does not constitute the type of prejudice necessary to deny a stay." Prestige Memo 5-6. Prestige is quite correct that "profits lost . . . can be compensated by damages,"
Regardless, courts in this circuit have regularly found prejudice where a reexamination would prolong the litigation.
We find that this factor, too, weighs in favor of denying a stay.
Having found that all factors favor denying a stay, Prestige's motion for reconsideration of this Court's M&O is denied.
Prestige's motion for a limited stay of discovery along with expedited depositions of the inventors of the Patent is denied. This is a "new theor[y] that [Prestige] failed to advance" previously,
For the foregoing reasons, Prestige's motions are DENIED with prejudice. Prestige is hereby ordered to complete discovery by August 31, 2012. Any further frivolous delays will be construed as dilatory—and sanctionable—conduct.
SO ORDERED.