Synthetic Patents Co. v. United States

12 Cust. Ct. 148, 1944 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 22
CourtUnited States Customs Court
DecidedApril 21, 1944
DocketC. D. 845
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 12 Cust. Ct. 148 (Synthetic Patents Co. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Customs Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Synthetic Patents Co. v. United States, 12 Cust. Ct. 148, 1944 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 22 (cusc 1944).

Opinion

Cole, Judge:

Synthetic Patents Co., Inc. v. United States, 11 Cust. Ct. 98, C. D. 803, distinguished, for tariff purposes, between drugs and medicinal preparations, stating that the former connotes “a substance or material used for medicinal purposes,’-’ and the latter “a product with therapeutic qualities, ready for medicinal use.” The principle was applied in Synthetic Patents Co., Inc. v. United States, 11 Cust. Ct. 147, C. D. 813, holding cholic acid classifiable as an advanced drug, and in Synthetic Patents Co., Inc. v. United States, 11 Cust. Ct. 157, C. D. 816, fixing the classification of a protein hormone, known as chorionic gonadotropin, as a medicinal preparation.

The foregoing review of cases is set forth because the present issue is controlled by the statutory construction applied therein. Three different ldnds of merchandise are involved herein. They are described on the invoices as “Ester of tachysterol,” “4-nit-robenzoate of 7-dehydrocholesterin,” and “3, 5-dinitrobenzoate of 7-dehydro-cholesterin.” All were classified as medicinal preparations under paragraph 5 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U. S. C. 1940 ed. § 1001, par. 5), and assessed with duty accordingly, at 25 per centum ad valorem. Although several claims are made in the protests plaintiff chiefly relies on classification of the merchandise as drugs, either free of duty under paragraph 1669 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U. S. C. 1940 ed. § 1201, par. 1669) as being in a crude state, or dutiable at 10 per centum ad valorem under paragraph 34 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U. S. C. 1940 ed. § 1001, par. 34), as being advanced in value or condition. Alternative claims are made that the goods are nonenumerated merchandise dutiable under paragraph 1558 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U. S. C. 1940 ed. § 1001, par. 1558), either as unmanufactured or manufactured articles.

There is some discussion in the testimony and in briefs concerning the provisions of paragraphs 27 and 28 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U. S. C. 1940 ed. § 1001, par. 27 and par. 28), relating to coal-tar products. Since, however, the said paragraphs were not considered in the collector’s assessment, are not involved in any of plaintiff’s [150]*150claims, and are now conceded by defendant to have no application in determining the tariff status of the instant merchandise, no purpose would be served in discussing the points suggested in connection therewith.

Winthrop Chemical Co., the firm that imported the merchandise involved in the three Synthetic Patents Co. cases, supra, is also the importer of the products in question, and the witness who testified in C. D. 813, supra, concerning cholic acid, also appeared here. In fact, at the beginning of the trial, it was agreed between counsel that the witness’ qualifications set forth in the said case be incorporated herein.

Discussion will be given, first, to the product invoiced as “Ester of tachysterol.” The testimony in connection therewith supports the following facts: Tachysterol is a commodity which the importer desires for its therapeutic properties and ultimate medicinal use to aid in correcting deficiencies of calcium in the blood. It is a natural constituent of yeast that has been exposed to sunlight, but because of its instability, it cannot be directly obtained from its source. It is necessary, using organic solvents, to extract ergosterol, plain-tiff’s illustrative exhibit A, from the yeast-, which, after purification, is subjected to irradiation that is carried out in an inert solvent without the use of oxygen and “by ultraviolet light containing bands of the wave lengths from 2,500 to 3,100 Angstrom units.” Although this may be accomplished by sunshine, the more practical method, and the one ordinarily followed, is to use “either carbon or mercury arc lamps which are obtainable on the market.” Irradiation of ergosterol results in the production of a mixture of products, one of which is tachysterol. All are unstable compounds which possess the peculiar faculty of naturally changing into a new substance. Formation of the new products, in the order of their availability, was described by the witness as follows (p. 11):

Ergosterol is changed into lumisterol; lumisterol is changed into tachysterol; the next step is the formation of Vitamin D2; then toxisterol is formed; and the final irradiation products are the Suprasterols I and II, and as long, as I said, as ergosterol is still present all of these irradiation products will be present in any solution which contains ergosterol.

Each of the irradiated products has the same empirical formula — • the same number, of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms in the molecule — as ergosterol. It is the arrangement of the molecules that is changed, having the effect of concentrating energy. Following irradiation, the unchanged ergosterol is recovered “by simply dissolving it in a mixture of ether and methanol,” and after filtering and washing the process is repeated and an additional quantity of the combined substances is obtained.

The entire mixture of irradiated products is converted, with the use of 4-methyl dinitrobenzvol chloride, into their esters known as [151]*151“4-methyl 3, 5-dinitrobenzoic acid.” To acquire the tachysterol the collection of esters is treated with methanol to remove excess acid, the residue being taken up in acetone in certain proportions and “then by a number of fractionated recrystallizations it is possible to remove the tachysterol as the 4-mothyl 3, 5-dinitrobenzoate from the other irradiation mixture esters.” Testimony elicited under cross-examination emphasizes that esterification of the ergosterol was not undertaken primarily for segregation purposes, but rather to obtain a stable, compound for preserving the tachysterol during the period of shipment, the witness stating that “from a* chemical point of view if you have a segregation in mind you would certainly not choose, for instance, an ester if you have to then run the mixture you obtain through 4 to 6 fractionated crystallizations, all of which are combined with a considerable loss to finally end up with your finished product.” Tachysterol is the only commodity in the imported ester which is used. Its companion substance is discarded after importation, being merely a stabilizer, serving as a preservative throughout the period of transportation. The witness testified that during 4 years of experimentation the method followed herein is the only one found, permitting transportation of tachysterol, “one of the most unstable compounds I have ever come across in my chemical career.” Plaintiff’s brief explains the condition as follows:

Tachysterol is extremely unstable, and the only method of preserving it is by coupling it with another compound which acts as a stabilizer. In this form, as an ester of tachysterol, it can be separated from the other constituents by dissolving in solvents from which it will crystallize more readily than will the other constituents.

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Bluebook (online)
12 Cust. Ct. 148, 1944 Cust. Ct. LEXIS 22, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/synthetic-patents-co-v-united-states-cusc-1944.