Must v. Wilkinson

HALL, District Judge.

The sole question is whether or not this court has jurisdiction in this action for declaratory relief, 28 U.S.C.A. § 2201, involving a dispute between an alleged infringer as plaintiff and an applicant for a patent as defendant.

While suits for declaratory relief by an alleged infringer against a holder of a patent are common, counsel have failed to cite, and independent research has failed to find, any case wherein jurisdiction is attempted to be justified in a suit by an alleged infringer against an applicant for a patent before the issuance of the patent.

The complaint…