SOGRAT
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SOGRAT® is registered trademark of the Wealth Transfer Group[1]. It is an acronym for Stock Option Grantor Retained Annuity Trust. It is a potentially tax efficient method for passing volatile assets onto heirs.
[edit] Patents
The Wealth Transfer Group owns a patent covering different methods for managing SOGRATs. The patent is U.S. Patent 6,567,790, entitled "Establishing and managing grantor retained annuity trusts funded by nonqualified stock options". This patent has been described as a tax patent due to the fact that the claimed method for managing the SOGRAT seeks to minimize gift tax under current US Tax law.
In 2006, the Wealth Transfer Group sued John W. Rowe for infringement of their patent. [2] This case has been settled for undisclosed terms.[3]
This case is often cited both by those that favor tax patents[4] and well as those that seek to have them banned [5].
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ SOGRAT trademark registration at the USPTO
- ^ Nowotarski, Mark, "Tax Strategies?", Insurance IP Bulletin, October 15, 2006
- ^ Herman, Tom, "Patents on Tax-Related Ideas Stir Worry", Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2007
- ^ Gruner, Richard, "Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures of the House Committee on Ways and Means" July 13, 2006
- ^ "Tax-Strategy Patents and the Tax Gap", The Tax Advisor, AICPA, May 2007
