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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1982)
Battalion/Page 7 April 7, 1982 national United Press International WASHINGTON — I he Sup reme Court has handed Phillips Petroleum Co. a victory in a lengthy dispute over patent rights to the material that goes into making plastic straws and numerous other household pro ducts. Phillips gets patent after legal battle The justices Monday ref used to review an appellate court rul ing that upheld Phillips’ patent right to- crystalline polypropy lene. For many years, Phillips was embroiled in a legal dispute with three other companies over who first invented the plastic in the 1950s. The substance is used to manufacture such common items as straws, upholstery, car pet and toys. The U.S. Patent Office in 1971 granted the patent to Mon tedison of Milan, Italy. Phillips, Standard Oil of Indiana and E.I. du Pont de Nemours Go. chal lenged the patent decision. In 1980 a federal judge gave the patent to Phillips. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in October upheld the judge’s ruling and the Supreme Court, by refusing to review, let it stand. The Fox First time ever on sale! Students reach heights d with cWB n j°y in g the spring air and sun are used to Jf en Barlass, a junior computer Once a n MF €0ce major from Rockport, and resprayed to maintu Sarah Herlick, a biochemistry doctorate student from Hemlock, Mich. il reserves fortify ‘j'Tnation, Ford says ado . riHj United Press International nhersucce*! , AMESj La _ Former Gerald Ford and in cash and SC les, the Berio’ 'resident ‘I* 11 u ii » r gy Secretary James Ed- Buddv Holli sa y t j le stockpiling of 250 1 me <tlm |mr t;|illjon barrels of oil in in 19():). Bisiana salt domes will disarm cl n’t believe be sH oil-producing countries’ “oil Berlowitzsaidjeapon” and strengthen U.S. sic lent ol'thelffeign policy, orial Society Ford, who created the Strate- icPetroleum Reserve to reduce rd, which tel en ^ e T thC ? rganiza - h side, wasm!” 1 of Petr ^ um L , X P 0, , t 1 mg i u n i.fiuntnes, said he was delighted V> Hol C*lce the end result Mtmday i - 1 k 11 ii- u y in 25Q m j||ionth barrel of "i in ■ ui Jhvaspumped into the reserve. H A JWMe praising SPR as a ma- - i a 0 "! 1 t nr milestone for strengthening * Z S i U< ' j l Aerican flexibility in foreign T’ W Sv 1 itlcy. Ford warned: “America tchh'kedkBJ t of the woods, trust their 7 E “We must remember the fardships that we have en- iured. We must renew our dedi- to regaining our nation’s SSSSSS^Kkpendence. ■ Reagan has built the SPR to the point where it can effectively blunt the oil producing coun tries’ use of the so-called oil weapon. OPEC’s power is waning.” Ford, Edwards, Louisiana Gov. Dave Treen and other dig nitaries stood in front of the tanker Cove Navigator while a pipeline was linked from the ship to the SPR terminal. The energy secretary then ordered workers to open the valves and start pumping oil into under ground tanks in south Louisiana. Edwards said recent allega tions by a Louisiana official who reported $8 billion worth of oil was stolen from SPR and re placed with hazardous wastes were outrageous. Last week Steve Johnson, a field auditor for the Louisiana Office of Conservation, said he had delivered documents show ing that much crude was di verted from the program when oil was transferred by barge at the Bayou Choctaw salt domes near Baton Rouge, La. Edwards said: “These are rather outrageous allegations. The total project so far only cost $6.8 billion.” While not commenting speci fically on a Justice Department investigation of SPR, Edwards conceded there were reasonably minor violations in the program. “Any time you have this kind of money involved, you have to look for fraud, waste and abuse,” he said. Any possible theft involved less than 9 million barrels of oil, Edwards said. Since the SPR was started in 1977, the federal government has stored enough oil to survive six months without foreign sup plied energy. The Energy Department plans to pump 336,000 barrels a day into underground salt domes in Louisiana and Texas until the United States has a pool of 750 million barrels. iot lie elation aes? finished # But now dt, copy it INC f~jsts can h needs. —The prict - of blue lilt you the best - ns regards =■ that dissert- —dght there at ■ n -6 p.m. ATTENTION: Staff positions open for 83 nGGI€lRND Apply at Reed McDonald Room #216 by April 12. JCPenney Manor East Mall Texas Avenue at Villa Maria, Bryan 779-4710