Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
F

Fawick v. Commissioner

436 F.2d 655 (1971)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Fawick v. Commissioner

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
436 F.2d 655 (1971)

Facts

Inventor Thomas Fawick (plaintiff) obtained a patent for a flexible brake, coupling, and clutch. In 1937, Fawick entered a license agreement with Falk Corporation that granted Falk, among other things, an exclusive license for Fawick’s driving clutches. The license contained a field-of-use restriction limiting the license to marine use. In 1938, Fawick formed Fawick Corporation to manufacture and sell the driving clutches for uses other than marine use. Fawick assigned Fawick Corporation his rights in the patents, excluding the rights assigned to Falk in the license agreement. Decades later, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (the commissioner) (defendant) determined deficiencies in Fawick’s taxes based on Fawick’s practice of treating royalties received from Falk with respect to the marine clutches as long-term capital gains. Fawick petitioned for redetermination, asserting that the royalties were paid under the marine-use clause of the license agreement, which Fawick claimed was a transfer of “all substantial rights to a patent” that qualified the royalties for capital-gain treatment under Internal Revenue Code § 1235. The tax court ruled in Fawick’s favor, and the commissioner appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Phillips, C.J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 832,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Federal Income Tax

Key Terms