Hall

On December 10, 1947, Jesse E. Hall, a citizen of the state of Texas, commenced this action against his competitors in the business of manufacturing and selling certain oil well bore cleaning devices. Named as defendants were Kenneth A. Wright, a citizen of the state of California, and B & W, Inc., a California corporation. Hall sought reformation of a certain contract, dated September 15, 1944, wherein the parties had attempted to resolve their differences. He also asked for a declaration of rights concerning the contract, as reformed; an injunction against asserted actual and threatened violations of the contract; and damages for the alleged violation of the antitrust laws of the United States.

Defendants answered, denying the principal allegations of the complaint. They also counterclaimed for a different declaration of rights concerning the contract; cancellation of the contract and an accounting; and for an accounting and damages by reason of Hall’s asserted infringement of three patents issued to Wright and then held by B & W, Inc.

The devices manufactured and sold by the respective parties, concerning which this lawsuit arose, are used in the oil-production industry in…