Court Holds That Patent Holder Has No Takings Claim for Patent Infringement

Zoltek v. United States
2006 WL 2691396

Zoltek Corporation brought suit against the United States, alleging that the government infringed its patent on a carbon fiber product made by a particular process when a government contractor used sheet products made by the patented methods. On appeal from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Zoltek filed a petition for a rehearing of the patent infringement case. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied the petition on September 21, 2006, holding that there is no jurisdiction in the Court of Federal Claims, nor in any other court, over a takings claim for compensation for unauthorized use by the government of a patented invention. The court further held that the owner of a patent that the government uses for governmental purposes cannot bring an action under the Fifth Amendment for compensation for the use of this property and cannot prevent such unauthorized use; private parties, the court wrote, have a right of action against the government for unauthorized use of a patent pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1498 (2000). The rights against the United States under § 1498, according to the court, are not greater than the rights against private parties in patent infringement suits, and there would be no claim for patent infringement against a private party under the circumstances of this case. Additionally, the court cited Schillinger v. United States, in which the Supreme Court in 1894 held that Congress had not created a separate parallel takings remedy in the Court of Federal Claims.

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