The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in South Bend, Ind., will have an auction June 14 to sell a patent held by would-be pharmaceutical bottle and cap maker Carl W. Cooke. The patent is for a child-resistant closure for pharmaceutical bottles. It is being auctioned as a part of a lengthy bankruptcy proceeding filed in January 1994 by Cooke, in part in response to tax proceedings filed against him in 1993 by the Internal Revenue Service.
The IRS seeks $800,000 in back taxes.
During the past decade, Cooke has been a principal in several failed plans to start an injection molding firm to make safety closures for pharmaceutical bottles.
Business plans for the numerous companies he has attempted to launch since 1986 cited the patent that is for sale as a
prime asset.
As recently as December, two businessmen from Grand Rapids, Mich., cited Cooke's patent, which then was subject to an IRS lien, as a primary asset in a business they intended to begin.
While other sale dates to auction the patent were delayed by legal maneuvers, an IRS spokes-man said May 13 that the June 14 date has been agreed to by all parties.
The event will be an open auction, and terms stipulate that bidders must be prepared to pay with cash or cash equivalents, such as a letter of credit. No minimum bid has been set, according to James H. Milstone, a lawyer with the firm of Thorne, Grodnik, Ransel, Duncan, Byron & Hostetler in Elkhart, Ind.
J. Richard Ransel, a partner in Milstone's law firm, is the bankruptcy trustee in the case.
The sale will take place at 10 a.m. June 14 at the U.S. Bankrupt-cy Court for the Northern District of Indiana, South Bend Division, Room 228.
Information on the auction can be obtained by contacting Milstone at the law firm, 228 W. High St., Elkhart, Ind. 46516; tel. (219) 294-7473.
Separately, Cooke continues to face trial in Elkhart on six counts of theft in connection with charges that he failed to pay employee health insurance premiums and income taxes.
Those charges also have been pending since August 1994, and a trial is expected to begin in September.
