In Re Bourns Patent Litigation

OPINION AND ORDER

Marian E. Bourns is the owner of a patent concerning “variable resistors.” In a prior action involving the Bourns patent the Nebraska district court held certain claims of the patent invalid. Bourns, Inc. v. Dale Electronics, Inc., 308 F.Supp. 501 (D.Neb.1969). Undaunted by that decision, plaintiffs soon thereafter filed an action in the Northern District of Illinois charging Allen-Bradley Co. and five other defendants with infringement of the Bourns patent. 1 Earlier this year the Illinois court denied plaintiffs’ request that the Allen-Bradley action proceed as a defendant…