Gregg v. Comm'r

18 T.C. 291, 1952 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 197, 93 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 313
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedMay 13, 1952
DocketDocket Nos. 26349, 26350
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 18 T.C. 291 (Gregg v. Comm'r) 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
Gregg v. Comm'r, 18 T.C. 291, 1952 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 197, 93 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 313 (tax 1952).

Opinion

OPINION.

Van Fossan, Judge:

We have three issues presented in these proceedings. The first is common to both cases and involves the treatment to be given to certain sums received by both petitioners during the taxable years here under review. Specifically, the question is whether such amounts are to be characterized as ordinary income taxable under section 22 (a) of the Code1 or as capital gains derived from the sale of a patent and taxable pursuant to sections 117 (a) and (b), Internal Revenue Code.2

During the year 1942 petitioners had pending before the United States Patent Office an application for letters patent to cover the manufacture of certain type outsoles known as rope soles. The method of fabricating this product had been conceived and developed by petitioner together with his wife. After petitioner had previously assigned the foregoing application to his wife, they together entered into an agreement with the Norwalk Co. whereby the latter ivas “* * * granted the sole and exclusive right and license to manufacture and sell [emphasis added] * * *” the rope sole product in the United States. This agreement was later extended to include and to grant substantially identical rights and privileges to the Panther-Panco Rubber Company, Inc. It is the income received by the Greggs under this original agreement, and the extension thereof, that we here seek to categorize for tax purposes.

The transfer of a patent results in a capital gain or loss if the patent was a capital asset in the hands of the transferor and if the transaction amounted to a sale or assignment as distinguished from a mere license agreement. See, Edward G. Myers, 6 T. C. 258. Here, there appears to be no doubt that the patent covering the rope soles was a capital asset in Lynne Gregg’s hands at the time she and petitioner entered into the agreement with the Norwalk Co. At least, respondent does not contend otherwise and all the evidence before us points in that direction. However, even though the patent be a capital asset, the sums which the Greggs received by reason thereof are not subject to the limitations of section 117, supra, unless the transaction with the Norwalk Co., as ultimately extended to Panther-Panco, constituted a sale of the patent rather than a mere license of rights therein. Whether the transaction resulted in a sale or a license is solely a question of interpretation involving the letter agreement between the parties. The label or name borne by this instrument of transfer is not determinative. Nor is the form thereof necessarily conclusive. Cleveland Graphite Bronze Co., 10 T. C. 974, affd. 177 F. 2d 200.

A patent is a franchise which consists of the three-fold right to exclude all others from making, from using and from vending the thing patented without permission of the patentee. Bloomer v. McQuewan, 14 How. 539. Any portion of the rights granted may be sold or transferred to another with varying legal effects. In one of the leading authorities dealing with the transfer of patents, Waterman v. Mackenzie, 138 U. S. 252, the Supreme Court said, inter alia:

Whether a transfer of a particular right or interest under a patent is an assignment or a license does not depend upon the name by which it calls itself, but upon the legal effect of its provisions. For instance, a grant of an exclusive right to make, use, and vend two patented machines within a certain district, is an assignment, and gives the grantee the right to sue in his own name for an infringement within the district, because the right, although limited to making, using and vending two machines, excludes all other persons, even the patentee, from making, using or vending like machines within the district. Wilson v. Rousseau, 4 How. 646, 686. Od the other hand, the grant of an exclusive right under the patent within a certain district, which does not include the right to make, and the right to use, and the right to sell, is not a grant of a title in the whole patent right within the district, and is therefore only a license. Such, for instance, is a grant of “the full and exclusive right to make and vend” within a certain district, reserving to the grantor the right to make within the district, to be sold outside of it. Gayler v. Wilder, above cited. So is a grant of “the exclusive right to make and use,” but not to sell, patented machines within a certain district. Mitchell v. Hawley, 16 Wall. 544. So is an instrument granting “the sole right and privilege of manufacturing and selling” patented articles, and not expressly authorizing their use, because, though this might carry by implication the right to use articles made under the patent by the licensee, it certainly would not authorize him to use such articles made by others. Hayward v. Andrews, 106 U. S. 672. See also Oliver v. Rumford Chemical Works, 109 U. S. 75.

After setting forth the above factors as criteria for determining the ultimate legal effect of an agreement involving the transfer of an interest or right under a patent, the Supreme Court went on to hold that a grant of “* * * the sole and exclusive right and license to manufacture and sell * * *” the patented product throughout the nation without an express authorization for the use thereof, does not constitute an assignment or sale. Rather, the court said that such a grant is but a license and gives the licensee no right in his own name to sue a third person at law or in equity for an infringement of the patent. Waterman v. Mackenzie, sufra; Edward G. Myers, supra. The rationale of the Waterman case has subsequently been followed and reiterated on numerous occasions. For one such instance see, e. g., United States v. General Electric Co., 272 U. S. 476, wherein it was said that in order for a transaction to constitute an assignment or a sale there must be a conveyance of, “* * * (1) the exclusive right to make, use and vend the invention throughout the United States, or, (2) an undivided part or share of that exclusive right, or (3) the exclusive right under the patent within and through a specific part of the United States. * * *” See also, Cleveland Graphite Bronze Go., supra, at p. 988. It is settled law that anything short of the foregoing is not a sale or assignment but rather a license which gives the licensee no title to the patent. Waterman v. Mackenzie, supra; United States v. General Electric Co., supra; Gayler v. Wilder, 10 How. 477; Moore v. Marsh, 7 Wall. 515; Grown Co. v. Nye Tool Works, 261 U. S. 24.

In the instant case, although the contract granted the right to manufacture and sell the products, this exclusive right was variously conditioned in that if the demand for the products exceeded Norwalk’s capacity and Norwalk did not wish to increase its facilities, petitioner could make other commitments and arrangements not damaging to Norwalk. The term of the agreement was for 1 year, subject to renewals of 1 year each, or to cancelation on 60 days’ notice by either party. Suits for infringement could be brought either by the Greggs or by Norwalk. These facts are all indicative of a license, not a sale and transfer of title.

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

Related

Gregg v. Comm'r
18 T.C. 291 (U.S. Tax Court, 1952)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
18 T.C. 291, 1952 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 197, 93 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 313, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gregg-v-commr-tax-1952.