Signtech Incorporated, Plaintiff-appellant, v. Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company, Defendant-appellee, 895 F.2d 1421 (Fed. Cir. 1990)

DECISION

This appeal is from the 21 June 1989 Order of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland granting the motion of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company to dismiss this action without prejudice. We affirm.

OPINION

Having reviewed the contentions of the parties and the evidence they rely on in support of their respective contentions, we find no abuse of discretion by Judge Smalkin in his decision to dismiss the complaint in this action without prejudice so that trial of the same issues between the parties hereto may proceed in the pending suit in the District Court for the Western District of Texas. This case is distinguishable on its facts from the recent decision of this court in Kahn v. General Motors Corp., 889 F.2d 1078, 12 USPQ2d 1997 (Fed. Cir. 1989). Here the Texas suit was brought by the patentee to acquire jurisdiction against the asserted infringing manufacturer who was not a party to the Maryland declaratory judgment action. We agree that complete relief can best be afforded in the Texas suit. We affirm Judge Smalkin's decision to dismiss for the reasons stated in his Memorandum Opinion of even date with the order appealed from.