American Telephone & Telegraph Co v. United States

This case comes to us on plaintiffs’ motion to strike part of defendant’s answer, or, in the alternative, for partial summary judgment. The sole issue before us at this time is when does the statute of limitations for bringing suit begin to run in an action for compensation under the Invention Secrecy Act of 1951, 35 U.S.C. § 183. Since we agree with plaintiffs that the period for bringing suit did not begin to run until the patent was issued, we grant plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment.1

On December 24, 1948, a patent application, Serial No. 67,210, entitled "Communication…