Filtrol Corporation and Texaco, Inc. v. The Honorable Robert J. Kelleher, United States District Judge

Filtrol Corporation and Texaco, Inc., defendants in a patent infringement action brought by Mobil Oil Corporation in the district court for the Central District of California, petition this court for a writ of mandamus directing the district judge (1) to vacate his order denying a stay of the proceedings pending the outcome of similar litigation in the district court for the District of Connecticut and granting Mobil’s motion for a separate trial limited solely to the issue of patent infringement and (2) to enter an order staying proceedings in the California action until a decision has been rendered on the merits in the Connecticut case. Because we find the judge’s order to have been a lawful exercise of his considerable discretion in these matters, we deny the petition.

FACTS

Mobil Oil Corporation filed two separate actions (which were later consolidated) in the District Court for the Central District of California in 1964 and 1966, alleging infringement by Filtrol and Texaco of three patents held by Mobil. Mobil filed a similar suit, involving the same patents, against W. R. Grace & Co. in the district court in Texas; that action was later transferred to the District of…