Seaboard Surety Company v. The Honorable R. Dorsey Watkins, United States District Judge for the District of Maryland

In this application for a writ of mandamus, we cannot say that the district court 'abused its discretion when it declined to dismiss the action for want of prosecution, and we will therefore deny the writ. At the same time, we conclude that there has been such unconscionable delay in the final disposition of the underlying litigation as to warrant extraordinary relief. More than ten years have elapsed since the validity and infringement of plaintiff’s patents were finally determined and since we remanded the case for assessment of damages. Ransburg Electro-Coating Corp. v. Proctor Electric…