Zoltek Corp. v. United States

Case Number: CLB0143

Date: 03.31.2006

Citation: 78 U.S.P.Q.2d 1481 (Fed. Cir. 2006)

Use of plantiff’s method patent by United States does not give rise to Tucker Act claim for taking of private property for public use under Fifth Amendment, since U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that patentee cannot sue federal government for patent infringement as Fifth Amendment taking under Tucker Act, and court’s holding has not been overruled, since, in response to that ruling, U.S. Congress provided specific sovereign immunity waiver, under 28 U.S.C. § 1498, allowing patentee to recover for infringement by federal government, and since government’s “taking” of license to use patent, unlike regulatory takings and inverse condemnation of real property, therefore creates cause of action under Section 1498, rather than Tucker Act claim, even if it is assume that patent is type of property that comes within protection of Fifth Amendment takings clause.

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