Emory v. Commissioner

47 T.C. 710, 1967 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 125
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMarch 31, 1967
DocketDocket No. 4455-63
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 47 T.C. 710 (Emory v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Emory v. Commissioner, 47 T.C. 710, 1967 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 125 (tax 1967).

Opinion

Fay, Judge:

Respondent determined a deficiency in petitioners’ Federal income tax for the taxable year 1958 in the amount of $2,739.88.

The sole issues for decision are (1) whether royalty income received by Martin F. Emory is ordinary income or long-term capital gain pursuant to section 1235 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954; or, (2) whether, alternatively, the royalty received by Emory is long-term capital gain pursuant to section 1231 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts were stipulated, and the stipulation of facts and the exhibits attached thereto are so found.

Petitioners Martin F. Emory (hereinafter referred to as Emory) and Nan Emory, husband and wife, filed a joint Federal income tax return for the calendar year 1958, prepared on the basis of the cash method of accounting, with the district director of internal revenue, Upper Manhattan, New York.

Emory has been connected, in one way or another, with the promotion and sale of cosmetics, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals since the mid-1940’s. In the course of his business activities, he became acquainted with Max A. Burde (hereinafter referred to as Burde) and Bernard Weiss (hereinafter referred to as Weiss) ,1 Emory, Burde, and Weiss are not related to each other by blood or in law. At least on one occasion prior to the transactions described herein, Emory, Burde, and Weiss have been associated in a business venture. That venture, conducted in corporate form, was known as Sardeau, Inc. (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the corporation). It involved the sale or distribution of perfumes to retail stores. The business proved unsuccessful, and in 1953 Burde and Weiss discontinued their association with it. However, their wives, Berthe C. Burde and Peggy S. Weiss, had experience in the cosmetics business and joined with Emory to continue the business as a partnership (hereinafter referred to as Perfume Co.). Sardeau, Inc., remained in existence solely because of the fact that its annual State franchise taxes continued to be paid.

In the early part of April 1954, Emory contacted Burde and Weiss with regard to a bath oil formula that he had conceived, which subsequently became known as Sardo. Emory proposed to transfer to each of them a one-third interest in the formula in return for their promise to pay all of the development costs, including any possible legal and patent fees, the cost of a chemist, and the production costs of a commercial batch of the bath oil. In the latter part of that month, Burde and Weiss accepted Emory’s offer. It was estimated that Burde and Weiss would probably incur costs of approximately $12,000 in connection with the commercial development of the bath oil, consisting of $1,000 for attorney fees in connection with a patent application, $1,000 for other legal fees, $500 to be paid to a chemist for producing samples of the product, $5,000 or $6,000 as the cost of producing a 50-gross commercial batch, and $2,000 to $3,000 for laboratory testings of the product. It was contemplated from the very outset of their agreement that Burde and Weiss would finance Emory in connection with the development of the bath oil and that after the oil had been sufficiently developed they would sell the formula and the bath oil invention to some large cosmetic manufacturer.

At the time Burde and Weiss orally accepted Emory’s offer, Emory had made no effort to develop this product. Prior to that time he had never even attempted to make a sample of the bath oil. In fact, Emory had not found it necessary to reduce the formula to writing prior to that time since he had committed the elements of the formula to memory.

In May 1954, Burde and Weiss brought Emory to their attorney, explained the terms of their agreement to the attorney, and requested him to reduce their agreement to writing. Burde and Weiss advised the attorney that any services rendered in connection with the bath oil formula or requested by either of them or by Emory should be billed to Burde and Weiss personally and that Emory would not bear any part of the legal fees.

In June 1954, Burde and Weiss contacted a chemist and retained him to prepare samples of the bath oil. Emory conferred with the chemist and revealed the bath oil formula to him. The chemist in August of that year delivered six 4-ounce samples to Emory. Emory, Burde, and Weiss, as well as members of their immediate families, made personal tests of the samples.

During the summer of 1954, Emory, Burde, and Weiss, at the suggestion of Burde’s and Weiss’ lawyer, conferred with a firm of patent lawyers concerning the advisability of applying for a patent on the bath oil formula. At this meeting Weiss advised the patent attorneys that all services rendered and disbursements made in connection with the bath oil invention should be billed to Burde and Weiss personally or to their partnership, Keystone Co. The patent attorneys were of the opinion that the formula was patentable and that Emory, Burde, and Weiss might have a better chance of selling the formula to some large cosmetic manufacturing company if it were patented. They held discussions concerning the filing of a patent application upon a number of occasions during that summer. In connection therewith, the matters of patent infringement and protecting the formula were discussed. In the early part of December 1954, it was finally decided that an application for a patent would be filed.

On December 21,1954, Burde, Weiss, and Emory executed a written agreement memorializing their oral agreement of April 1954. There was no basic difference between the April 1954 oral agreement and the December 21, 1954, written agreement. That agreement provided, in pertinent part, as follows:

Whereas [Emory] lias with the cooperation and aid of [Burde and Weiss] invented a formula for a bath oil which is also a remedy against dry skin and skin irritation, which invention also consists of a new use for a compound of previously known ingredients, and;
Whereas the parties hereto have previously orally among themselves agreed on their respective interests in said inventions and are now desirous of reducing their said agreement to writing;
Now, Therefore, in consideration of the mutual covenants herein contained, the parties hereto hereby agree as follows:
1. [Emory] hereby assigns, transfers and sets over unto [Burde and Weiss] two^thirds of all his right, title and interest in and to the inventions aforementioned, namely the formula for said oil, the process of manufacturing the same, and the new use thereof, all of which are now known to all the parties.
To Have and To Hoed such inventions and income therefrom and rights thereto, to [Burde and Weiss], one-third thereof to each, their heirs and assigns for their own use and behoof, forever.
2. [Emory] hereby further agrees to file or cause to be filed in the United States Government Patent Office in hie own name, an application for letters patent to said inventions and to execute all necessary papers and documents required in connection therewith, now being prepared by [certain patent lawyers].
3.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Emory v. Commissioner
47 T.C. 710 (U.S. Tax Court, 1967)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
47 T.C. 710, 1967 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 125, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/emory-v-commissioner-tax-1967.