State v. Holland

Herbert Holland developed a cost-effective process to clean oil-contaminated bilge water. The State of Texas, seeking to abate oil pollution in its coastal waters, contracted with, and paid more than $160,000 to, Holland’s companies for assistance in designing and constructing filtration units along the Texas Gulf Coast. Holland later received a patent on the decontamination process and began demanding additional payments as patent royalties. When the State refused to pay, Holland filed this suit claiming the State’s unauthorized use of his patented technology constituted a taking under…