Formulabs, Inc. v. Hartley Pen Company and E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Company

Hartley Pen Company, a California corporation, the plaintiff in the district court and one of the appellees on this appeal, filed a complaint against E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, a Delaware corporation, the other appellee on this appeal, in the Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of Los Angeles, alleging breach of warranty. Such parties will hereafter be referred to respectively as Hartley and du Pont. The action was transferred to the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division, on petition of du Pont.

Jurisdiction was vested in the district court under the provisions of Title 28 U.S.C.A. § 1332 , by reason of diversity of citizenship, the amount in controversy exceeding the sum of $10,000 exclusive of interest and costs.

It appears from the record that Hartley manufactures ball point pens incorporating cartridges filled with ink made under a secret formula comprising a trade secret belonging to Formulabs, Inc., the appellant on this appeal, which appellant will hereafter be referred to as Formulabs. The use of the secret formula by Hartley was under the terms of a written license agreement between…