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October 16, 1986, application. Although Amoco made several
suggestions and requests during the developmental stages of the
liner system, Amoco did not assert any ownership rights in the
invention. On January 24, 1989, and December 5, 1989, United States
Patent numbers 4,799,607 and 4,884,722, respectively, (the Amoco
patents) were issued to Mr. Podd by the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office for the invention.
Subsequently, Powertex filed applications in several countries
for foreign counterpart patents concerning the Amoco liner, listing
Mr. Podd as the inventor.4 Several foreign counterpart patents were
subsequently published as a result of the applications.
Powertex paid the legal expenses and filing fees for both the
U.S. and foreign counterpart patents concerning the Amoco liner. On
its corporate tax returns, the expenses and fees were either claimed
as deductions or capitalized.
Powertex sued Insta-Bulk for infringement of the Amoco
patents.5 On December 22, 1994, in settlement of the litigation, an
agreement was executed which provided that Powertex would grant
Insta-Bulk a "limited, exclusive, non-transferrable license" to make
4 Petitioners contend that applications for foreign
counterpart patents were filed by Powertex because at that time
Canada was not a signatory to the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and,
therefore, Mr. Podd could not file for such patents, but
Powertex, a United States corporation, could.
5 It is not clear from the record why Powertex, rather than
Mr. Podd, brought suit against Insta-Bulk, nor is the period in
time when this suit took place disclosed in the record.
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