Lear, Inc. v. Adkins

John Adkins (plaintiff), hired by Lear, Inc. (defendant) to develop an improved airplane gyroscope, agreed to license his inventions to Lear in exchange for royalties, and after Adkins developed the gyroscope and filed a 1954 patent application, the parties entered a 1955 licensing agreement letting Lear terminate payments if no patent issued or an issued patent was later invalidated. After the Patent Office repeatedly rejected Adkins's application, Lear stopped paying royalties, believing no patent would issue, but the Patent Office ultimately granted the patent in 1960; Adkins sued to enforce the agreement, a jury found for Adkins, the trial judge granted Lear judgment notwithstanding the verdict, the appeals court found Lear could terminate payments, the state supreme court reversed, and the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari.