Cite as: 528 U. S. 216 (2000)
Per Curiam
petitioner's request for a preliminary injunction. Id., at 138. Petitioner then requested and received disadvantaged business status from CDOT.
Meanwhile, respondents' appeal from the District Court's decision in Adarand II was pending before the Tenth Circuit. Upon learning that CDOT had given petitioner disadvantaged business status, the Tenth Circuit held that the cause of action was moot, and vacated the District Court's judgment favorable to petitioner in Adarand II. 169 F. 3d 1292, 1296-1297, 1299 (CA10 1999). Petitioner filed a petition for certiorari.
III
In dismissing the case as moot, the Tenth Circuit relied on the language of the Subcontractor Compensation Clause, which provides that "[a] small business concern will be considered a [disadvantaged business enterprise] after it has been certified as such by . . . any State's Department of Highways/Transportation." Id., at 1296. Because CDOT had certified petitioner as a disadvantaged business enterprise, the court reasoned, the language of the clause indicated that the Federal Government also had accepted petitioner's certification for purposes of federal projects. As a result, petitioner could no longer demonstrate " 'an invasion of a legally protected interest' that is sufficiently 'concrete and particularized' and 'actual or imminent' " to establish standing. Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona, 520 U. S. 43, 64 (1997) (quoting Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U. S. 555, 560 (1992)). Because, the court continued, petitioner could not demonstrate such an invasion, its cause of action was moot. 169 F. 3d, at 1296-1297.
In so holding, the Tenth Circuit "confused mootness with standing," Friends of Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC), Inc., ante, at 189, and as a result placed the burden of proof on the wrong party. If this case is moot, it is because the Federal Government has accepted CDOT's
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