In Re Manchak Patent Litigation

MEMORANDUM OPINION

MCKELVIE, District Judge.

This is a multi-district patent case. Plaintiff Frank Manchak Jr. resides in Santa Barbara, California and is the owner of U.S. Patent No. 4,079,003 (the ’003 patent), entitled “Method of Transforming Sludge Into Ecologically Acceptable Solid Material.” Manchak brought twelve suit in numerous districts, alleging that the various defendants infringed the claims of the ’003 patent before its expiration on June 7, 1994. On June 3, 1998, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered that Manchak’s infringement suits be consolidated before this…