Kennecott Corp. v. United States District Court for the Southern District of California
Opinion
lead Opinion
ORDER
Kennecott Corporation petitions for a writ of mandamus directing the United States District Court for the Southern District of California to: 1) vacate its order denying Kennecott’s motion to disqualify opposing counsel and; 2) enter an order disqualifying opposing counsel for all purposes. We find that Kennecott should have filed a petition for review in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and we therefore deny the petition without prejudice pending the Federal Circuit’s determination of reviewability.
Kennecott Corporation instituted a patent infringement action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California against Kyocera International, Inc. and Kyoto Ceramic Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Kyocera”). Jurisdiction in the district court was based on 28 U.S.C. § 1338 . On November 21, 1988, Kennecott moved to disqualify Kyocera’s counsel, the law firm of Spensley Horn Jubas & Lubitz, for an alleged conflict of interest. The district court denied Kennecott’s motion on December 1 and certified the issue for interlocutory appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292 (b).