Hensel, Bruckmann & Lorbacher, Inc. v. United States

24 Cust. Ct. 603, 1950 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2091
United States Customs Court·Decided May 1, 1950·No. No. 7825; Entry No. 754799·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

Lawrence, Judge:

An examination of the record and briefs discloses that the parties to this litigation have brought the issue raised by this appeal for reappraisement within narrow confines, namely, whether the item referred to on the consular invoice as a license fee should be included in the statutory cost of production of certain printing machines.

[604]*604The Transkrit Corporation of New York, the actual importer, purchased from Transkrit, Ltd., also referred to as Transkrit A. G. of Zurich, Switzerland, four so-called Transkrit machines which were manufactured by the Maschinen-Fabrik, M. A. N., of Augsburg, Germany, upon orders from said Transkrit A. G.

The machines were invoiced at a unit price per machine of 22,000 RM. They were entered at a unit price of 12,000 RM and appraised at 22,000 RM each, plus packing, as representing the cost of production, section 402 (f) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U. S. C. § 1402 (f)).

A notation on the invoice reads as follows:

License Fee to be paid by the Transkrit Corporation to Transkrit Ltd_ RM 10,000
Cost of Transkrit Machine to be paid by the Transkrit Corporation to the Maschinen-Fabrik M. A. N. Augsburg, Germany_RM 12,000

As indicated above, the sole question for determination is whether or not the item of 10,000 RM was properly included in the value found by the appraiser.

Briefly stated, it is the contention of plaintiff that the license fee of 10,000 RM per machine is paid by the importer in return for restricted territorial rights granted by Transkrit, Ltd., of Zurich, Switzerland.

In support of its contention, plaintiff introduced affidavits marked exhibit 1, collective exhibit 2, and exhibits 3-A to 3-L, respectively, and also the oral testimony of Mr. Richard Neubauer, president of the importing corporation. Motion of defendant to exclude exhibit 3-L from the record is denied and an exception allowed.

Exhibit 1 is an affidavit of Ernst Hodler, managing director of Transkrit A. G., who deposes that he had charge of the sales of all Transkrit machines sold by his company; that the price of 22,000 RM per machine included a license fee of 10,000 RM for territorial rights in the United States and 12,000 RM represented the purchase price of each machine; that he is the inventor of the machines in question and that Transkrit A. G. owns the patents covering them; that Maschinen-Fabrik Augsburg-Nurnberg A. G. manufactured and shipped these machines on orders placed with it by Transkrit A. G.; that Transient A. G. sells Transkrit machines such as those in controversy for home consumption in Germany and for export to the United States and other foreign countries at 22,000 RM of which 12,000 RM are paid to the manufacturer as the purchase price and that 10,000 RM are paid to Transkrit A. G. as a license fee for territorial rights; that every purchaser of a Transkrit machine in Germany, the United States, and other foreign countries is given exclusive territorial rights for the fee of 10,000 RM paid to Transkrit A. G.

Plaintiff’s collective exhibit 2 is an affidavit of Franz H. Hausenblas of Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany, who deposes that he was a mechanical engineer with Maschinen-Fabrik Augsburg-Nurnberg A. G.; that [605]*605he supervised the production and sales of the machines before the court; that the Maschinen-Eabrik concern is the only one in Germany which manufactures said machines, which are shipped directly by it to the purchasers; that he is fully acquainted with the costs of manufacture of the machines in controversy, which he set forth in his affidavit, amounting to 12,000 RM per machine.'

Plaintiff’s exhibit 3-A is another affidavit of Ernst Hodler, above referred to, which is descriptive of written agreements between Transkrit A. G. of Zurich, Switzerland, and Messrs. Sigmund and Richard Neubauer, Ludwigshafen a/Rhein, Germany, and between Transkrit A. G. and Transkrit Corporation of New York, and other papers relating to the purchase of Transkrit machines, showing the relationship created by the parties to the agreements and the provisions relating to license fees and royalty fees.

Mr. Richard Neubauer, president of the Transkrit Corporation, called as a witness for the plaintiff, testified that he is in the business of manufacturing spot-carbonizing paper for the printing trade; that he is familiar with the machines in this case having bought and installed them; that prior to 1938, he supervised the operation of such or similar machines for 9 years in Germany; that for a time he was a co-partner in the firm of Neubauer Brothers; and that the price of the four machines was 48,000 RM and the license fee was 40,000 RM; that Transkrit A. G. could not sell these machines to anyone in those parts of the United States where Transkrit Corporation had acquired exclusive territorial rights, and, on the other hand, the Transkrit Corporation could not buy Transkrit machines from anyone but Transkrit A. G.; that he negotiated the agreements marked plaintiff’s exhibits 3-B, 3-C, 3-D, and 3-L, the first three of which were assigned to the Transkrit Corporation by Sigmund and Richard Neubauer; that the imported machines were installed in the importer’s places of business in New York, Chicago, and Rochester; that the machines were covered by United States Letters Patent and that at the time of importation thereof these machines were never dealt in or imported by anyone else in the United States.

In support of its contention that said license fee should be included in the cost of production, the value returned by the appraiser, the United States relies upon International Forwarding Co. v. United States, 17 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 86, T. D. 43377; General Dyestuff Corp. v. United States, 19 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 309, T. D. 45480; and Lionel Trading Co., Inc. v. United States, 24 C. C. P. A. (Customs) 432, T. D. 48900.

An examination of those cases reveals vital points of distinction from the case before me.

In the International Forwarding Co. case, supra, the appellate court was reviewing a judgment of the trial court which had denied a petition for remission of additional duties assessed by the collector of [606]*606customs pursuant to section 489 of the Tariff Act of 1922 (19 U. S. C. § 1489). It appears from the opinion of the appellate court in that case that petitioner had purchased an oxygen-rectification column to be installed at its plant in New Jersey, at a complete cost to the purchaser, including crating and packing, freight in Germany, ocean freight, insurance, unloading charges, duty, royalty, in fact all charges up to and including installation, of $8,000. In making entry, the importer in that case deducted, among other items, a royalty in the amount of $1,800, which was paid by the purchaser to the seller and which it appears “was a part of the total purchase price of $8,000.” As stated by the appellate court — ■

The sole question involved is as to remission of duties assessed after reappraisement on account of the royalty fee of $1,800 not being included in the original entry.

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Hensel, Bruckmann & Lorbacher, Inc. v. United States, 24 Cust. Ct. 603, 1950 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 2091 (cusc 1950).

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