In [[1964]] Burks was approached by attorney [[Sy Yuter]] and asked to join [[T. Kite Sharpless]] and [[Robert F. Shaw]] in litigation that would add their names as inventors to the [[ENIAC]] patent, which would allow them to profit from the sale of licenses to the premiere electronic digital computer apart from [[Sperry Rand]], the company that owned the Eckert-Mauchly interest in the patent and was at that time seeking royalties from other computer manufacturers. This endeavor was never successful; in the [[1973]] decision to ''[[Honeywell v. Sperry Rand]]'', U.S. District Judge [[Earl R. Larson]] ruled—even as he invalidated the patent—that only Mauchly and Eckert had invented the ENIAC, and that Burks, Sharpless, and Shaw could not be added as inventors.
