1969 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 29">*29
53 T.C. 202">*202 OPINION
Respondent determined deficiencies in petitioners' income taxes for the calendar years 1965 and 1966 in the amounts of $ 851.32 and $ 2,880.25, respectively.
The only issue for decision is whether a portion of the payments received by petitioners during the years 1965 and 1966 under a license agreement whereby they disposed of substantially all rights in certain patents was unstated interest under the provisions of
1969 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 29">*31 All of the facts have been stipulated and are found accordingly.
Petitioners at the time of the filing of the petition in this case resided at Yakima, Wash. They filed their joint Federal income tax returns for the calendar years 1965 and 1966 with the district director of internal revenue at Tacoma, Wash.
On March 19, 1961, Floyd G. Paxton (hereinafter referred to as petitioner) applied for a patent pertaining to an apparatus for making bag closures united in strip form and dispensing individual bag closures. An additional patent was also applied for by petitioner for bag closures united in strip form on polyethylene multiple-closure strips adapted to separation into individual closures.
On January 5, 1965, patents were issued to petitioner for these bag-closure dispensing apparatuses.
Sometime prior to January 1, 1965, Kwik Lok Corp. was organized under the laws of the State of Washington for the purpose of manufacturing and selling Kwik Lok bag-closure apparatus. As of January 1, the capital structure of Kwik Lok Corp. consisted of 500 shares of class A voting stock and 1,471 shares of class B nonvoting stock, all of which was owned by petitioner.
Petitioner subsequent to January1969 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 29">*32 1, 1965, made gifts of some of his stock to his children and a key employee so that as of April 1, 53 T.C. 202">*203 1965, he owned 395 shares of class A stock out of the total outstanding stock of 500 shares and 1,140 shares of the class B stock out of total outstanding stock of 1,471 shares.
On April 30, 1965, petitioner, as licensor, entered into an agreement with Kwik Lok Corp. with respect to the transfer of his patents to that corporation. This agreement recited that the licensor was the inventor and sole owner of certain inventions and patents issued to him on those inventions and that the licensee was desirous of receiving an exclusive license from the licensor to employ in the licensee's business the methods covered by the licensor's patents and "to manufacture, use, lease and/or sell the products covered thereby, and to manufacture, use, lease and/or sell all improvements heretofore or hereafter invented by Licensor and embraced by any of the claims of said patents." The agreement then contained a grant by the licensor to the licensee of an exclusive license under the licensor's patents for the entire territory of the United States, embracing the rights to perform the methods covered1969 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 29">*33 by the patents; to manufacture, use, lease, and sell devices covered by the patents including devices embodying any improvements invented by the licensor; and to grant to other parties nonexclusive sublicenses to manufacture, use, lease, and/or sell devices covered by the patents. The agreement provided that in the event it had not been terminated in accordance with the express provisions therein for termination, the term of the agreement should extend from the date of its execution to January 5, 1982, the date of the expiration of the patents, or should it apply to patented improvements, to the date of expiration of the last such improvement patent to issue. The special provisions with regard to termination granted to the licensee the right of termination by giving advanced written notice to the licensor of its intention to do so 90 days before the proposed termination date and paying to the licensor on or before the date of termination, all royalties and other sums due under the agreement and unpaid. The licensor could not terminate the agreement except for default by the licensee or the bankruptcy of the licensee. The following provision was contained in agreement with respect1969 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 29">*34 to royalties:
3. ROYALTY. During the term of this agreement, LICENSEE shall pay LICENSOR cash royalties as follows:
7 1/2% (seven one-half per cent) on the first $ 1,000,000.00 (one million dollars) of net sales by LICENSEE and its Sublicensees of devices covered by one or more of said patents during each calendar year, the first of which years is to start on May 1, 1965, and conclude April 30, 1966.
6% (six per cent) on the second $ 1,000,000.00 (one million dollars) of such net sales during said calendar year.
5% (five per cent) on all such net sales in excess of $ 2,000,000.00 (two million dollars) during said calendar year.
53 T.C. 202">*204 Pursuant to the license agreement Kwik Lok Corp. paid to petitioner during the calendar years 1965 and 1966 the amounts of $ 37,878.19 and $ 96,154.48, respectively.
Petitioners on their Federal income tax returns for the calendar years 1965 and 1966 treated the total payments which they received from Kwik Lok Corp. as long-term capital gain.
Respondent in his notice of deficiency determined that the payments made to petitioner by Kwik Lok Corp. in 1965 and 1966 to the extent of $ 2,694.52 and $ 10,286.58, respectively, represented unstated interest1969 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 29">*35 within the meaning of
The parties agree that if the provisions of
It is petitioner's position that the agreement with respect to which he received the royalty payments is specifically exempt from the provisions of
1969 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 29">*38 Petitioner further states that respondent's regulations support his contention in that
1969 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 29">*39 Respondent argues that the provision of
1969 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 29">*40 Petitioner argues, however, that the provision of
The clear language of both the statute and the regulation supports petitioner's position. As petitioner says, the transaction which he entered into with Kwik Lok Corp. is a transaction described in
1969 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 29">*43 We sustain petitioner's position since in our view a logical reading of
1. All references are to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.↩
2.
(a) Amount Constituting Interest. -- For purposes of this title, in the case of any contract for the sale or exchange of property there shall be treated as interest that part of a payment to which this section applies which bears the same ratio to the amount of such payment as the total unstated interest under such contract bears to the total of the payments to which this section applies which are due under such contract.
* * * *
(f) Exceptions and Limitations. --
* * * * (4) Sales or exchanges of patents. -- This section shall not apply to any payments made pursuant to a transfer described in
3.
(a) General. -- A transfer (other than by gift, inheritance, or devise) of property consisting of all substantial rights to a patent, or an undivided interest therein which includes part of all such rights, by any holder shall be considered the sale or exchange of a capital asset held for more than 6 months, regardless of whether or not payments in consideration of such transfer are -- (1) payable periodically over a period generally coterminous with the transferee's use of the patent, or (2) contingent on the productivity, use or disposition of the property transferred.
(b) "Holder" Defined. -- For purposes of this section, the term "holder" means -- (1) any individual whose efforts created such property or
* * * *
(d) Related Persons. -- Subsection (a) shall not apply to any transfer, directly or indirectly, between persons specified within any one of the paragraphs of (1) the phrase "25 percent or more" shall be substituted for the phrase "more than 50 percent" each place it appears in (2) paragraph (4) of
4.
5.
6. H. Rept. No. 749, 88th Cong., 1st Sess. (1963), 1964-1 C.B. (Part 2) 125, with respect to H.R. 8363 (Pub. L. 88-272) contains an explanation of the provisions that became
"
"Paragraph (4) of
S. Rept. No. 830, 88th Cong., 2d Sess. (1964), 1964-1 C.B. (Part 2) 505, contains an explanation with respect to interest on certain deferred payments (the provision that became