Bartley Pen Co. v. United States District Court for the Southern District of California

We granted leave to Hartley Pen Company [petitioner herein] to file its petition for writ of prohibition and for writ of mandate, either or both in the alternative, and for other relief, and issued an order to show cause directed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division, certain Judges of that Court, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, and Formulabs, Inc., respondents. At the hearing on the order to show cause, the respondents E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company [hereinafter referred to as du Pont] and Formulabs, Inc. [hereinafter referred to as Formulabs] appeared in response to the order to show cause.

Basically, the petition seeks to have set aside by this Court certain orders made by one of the Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division, which were made in connection with pretrial discovery proceedings arising out of a suit for damages for breach of warranty instituted by the petitioner against du Pont and pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division.

In order to place the parties in proper posture and to place…