Irvin Combs, Jr. v. Plough, Inc., Schering Plough, Inc.

On November 4, 1980, Plaintiff-appellant Irvin W. Combs, Jr. filed the present patent infringement action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Plaintiff-appellant Combs admitted that he assigned the patent to Defendant-appellee Plough, Inc. prior to September of 1975, but maintained that the assignment was obtained by fraud. The district court determined that the patent infringement question could not be reached without first deciding the validity of the assignment, a state law question. Consequently, the court held that it lacked subject-matter…