California Court of Appeal
Nortel Networks Inc. v. State Bd. Equalization, B213415
In plaintiff's suit against the State Board of Equalization seeking a tax refund for sales tax imposed on the software that plaintiff licenses to operate telephone switching equipment, is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) the software licensed by plaintiff is exempt from sales tax under the Technology Transfer Agreement (TAA) statutes because it is copyrighted, it contains patented processes, and it enabled the licensee to copy the software, and to make and sell products embodying the patents and copyright, and as such, the Board's attempt to limit the scope of the TTA statutes by excluding prewritten computer programs is an invalid exercise of its regulatory power; but 2) trial court's judgment awarding plaintiff a refund of the sales tax it paid for licensing switch-specific programs is affirmed.
Appellate Information
- Decided 01/18/2011
- Published 01/18/2011
Judges
- BOREN
Court
- California Court of Appeal
Counsel
- For Appellant:
- Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Jeffrey G. Varga