Sacchetti v. United States

• Decision Date: 16 November 2016
• Docket Number: No. 15-1399C,15-1399C
• Parties: MARK JOSEPH SACCHETTI and JOHN STEPHEN SACCHETTI Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant, CYRACOM INTERNATIONAL, LLC, Third-Party Defendant.
• Court: U.S. Claims Court

MARK JOSEPH SACCHETTI and JOHN STEPHEN SACCHETTI Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES, Defendant,CYRACOM INTERNATIONAL, LLC, Third-Party Defendant.

No. 15-1399C

United States Court of Federal Claims

November 16, 2016

ORIGINAL

Pro Se; Statute of Limitations; Patent Infringement; Copyright; Substitution of Party After Death.

John Stephen Sacchetti, pro se, Lady Lake, Florida.

Mark Joseph Sacchetti, pro se, Los Angeles, California.

William Joss Nichols, Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, Department of Justice, Washington D.C., for defendant. With him was John J. Fargo, Director, Intellectual Property Staff, Commercial Litigation Branch, and Benjamin C. Mizer, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.

Randall Steven Papetti, Lewis and Roca, LLP, Phoenix, Arizona, for third-party defendant CyraCom International, LLC.

OPINION

HORN, J.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Pro se plaintiffs John S. Sacchetti and Mark J. Sacchetti filed a complaint in this court in the above-captioned case on November 19, 2015. Plaintiffs begin their complaint by alleging that they are the owners of two patents, design patent number 382,264 (the '264 Patent) and utility patent number 5,604,798 (the 798 Patent), as well as a trademark for the phrase "The You Talk Two Phone," stating that they are the "full and rightful owners and creators of a unique original invention we named and subsequently had trademarked as 'THE YOU TALK TWO PHONE'^®, U.S. PATENT No. DES-382, 264, U.S. UTILITY PATENT No. 5,604,798, U.S. TRADEMARK -SN 74/450292***."¹ Plaintiffs then set forth what they allege is a "list of grievances and formal proofs . . . against THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and its various agencies, spanning all three branches, both on and off domestic soil, in addition to all legally bound private or publicly owned corporate entities, subcontractors, or goods and services suppliers." Plaintiffs allege that certain "agendas, programs, and . . . ancillary commerce and operations" of these parties "compromis[ed] a willful and global infringement of intellectual property's, owned and legally maintained, by Sacchetti, Sacchetti et, al. !" In particular, plaintiffs allege that the "global manufacturing" of "DUAL-HANDSET TELEPHONES," which "comprise illegal and inferior 'MARKET COPIES' OF 'The You Talk Two Phone," constituted an "unethical and illegal use of Private Intellectual Property Rights" by "The United States Federal Government, and awarded subcontractors." Plaintiffs do not include details as to the dates or nature of the alleged infringements of their intellectual property in their complaint, but instead appear to allege that such details are included in letters sent to the President of the United States and the United States Commissioner of Patents, which they attached to their complaint, stating in their complaint:

[W]ith reference to the three page plea written to the President Of the UNITED STATES, and the formal response to that package being answered in writing along with a Confermation [sic] reference number from THE WHITE HOUSE at the end of the return letter corespondance by THE COMMISIONER OF PATENTS,-WE PRAY THE U.S.FEDERAL COURT OF CLAIMS HEARS OUR CASE, AND FURTHERMORE, ALLOWS US TO PRESENT OUR PROOFS OF PERSONAL AND PUBLIC RECORD IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE A JUST END.

Plaintiffs conclude their complaint by alleging, without elaboration, that they are entitled to "$200,," in damages "FOR THE USE OF PRIVATE PROPERTY AND WITH RESPECT TO USC 1498a."

Attached to plaintiffs' complaint are 195 pages comprising, at least, 130 separate documents. Among these documents are a letter to United States President Barack Obama and a letter from the Office of the Commissioner for Patents at the United States Patent and Trademark Office which appear to be the documents plaintiffs reference in their complaint. The letter to President Obama, dated February 23, 2013 and signed by both plaintiffs, begins:

In 1992, my brother and I invented an electronic telephone for the consumer marketplace that featured two handsets, instead of the usual single handset that one might be accustomed to seeing.

After

completing the first successful prototype, we were granted the following U.S. patents:

["DUAL TELEPHONE BASE"] U.S.PAT. D-382264

["THE YOU TALK TWO PHONE"] U.S. TRADEMARK FOR THE TITLE ["TELEPHONE SYSTEM WITH AUTOMATIC VOLUME CONTROL] U.S.PAT. 5,604,798

[{UTILITY- PATENT-(SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM) (THEORY OF OPERATION)]...the guts!

Plaintiffs then state that their letter "constitutes a citizen's appeal, in order to address and correct an enormous, 'multi-agency oversight', on behalf of our Federal Government." The February 23, 2013 letter to President Obama continues:

Our plea concerns the infringement of intellectual properties, taken and presently in use by the Federal Government and it's awarded subcontractors, to aid in the fulfillment of Presidential Mandate #13166, which states that any and all individuals must be provided an interpreter, or, what is referred to as a "remote, over the telephone interpreter"', if said individual has a communications barrier due to a lack of his or her proficiency in spoken English. This extension of The American Disabilities Act, seeks equality and fair access to all ELP (English-Language Proficiency) deficient individuals across the entire range of state and federal governmental services available.

***

Since these legally mandated services require the use of a" DUAL HANDSET TELEPHONE" at the site of the language "barrier"; and, since our technical utility patent, [TELEPHONE SYSTEM WITH AUTOMATIC VOLUME CONTROL] U.S. PATENT # 5,604,798-(encompasses our unique invention called "THE YOU TALK TWO PHONE"® (U.S. REGISTERED TRADEMARK-(encompasses our original design patent entitled [DUAL TELEPHONE BASE], U.S. Design Patent [D-382264], first granted back in 1993, then suddenly and mysteriously MIA (missing in action), finally resurfacing with different filing data, and no valid accountable filing receipts or explanation from our prosecuting patent attorney!

The Mandate,

issued on August 11, 2000 by President Clinton, along with some visibly unethical activity on behalf of the U.S.P.T.O., THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS (#***), and negligence from our own prosecuting patent attorneys; (see 9 page essay/analysis; entitled---["THE YOU TALK TWO PHONE"^®]), are dwarfed in comparison to the enormous commerce carried out by these companies, (AT&T)

(Language-Line LLC), and (Cyra-com intl./co.//Voiance Inc.), to whom the United States Federal Government is in direct and legal partnership with, as well as numerous other third-party start-ups, which have exploded onto the scene since 1995 to the present, 2013, thereby comprising a willfully ignored global and domestic infringement on intellectual property!

Being that all the above mentioned corporate entities, as well as the Federal I.P. Court circuit are not conducive to the independent inventor / patent holder, all infringing parties to this day,

continue to remain untraceable, unaccountable, and by our definition of justice or fair-play, TOTALLY Unacceptable!!!!!!!!!!!

The letter ends with the following "Very Humble, Yet Very Warranted Requests":

1). A non-public, executive demand of fair and just restitution to all offending or infringing parties, who are proven to have engaged in willful and gainful commerce on top of exclusive or legal powers to rightfully control or claim moneys within the laws of rightful term of the private ownership of intellectual property . . . .

2). An Extension and Reinstitution of our Patent portfolio . . . .

3). The reprinting of our two granted U.S. Patents, as to reflect the true and factual information, as these Patents were both fully maintained, and fully paid for in good faith!

The letter from the Office of the Commissioner of Patents to plaintiffs is dated July 16, 2013. The letter begins by stating that plaintiffs' February 23, 2013 letter to President Obama had been referred to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a response and noting that, in their letter, plaintiffs "request (1) 'restitution to all offending or infringing parties,' (2) 'an extension and reinstitution of [your] Patent portfolio,' and (3) 'the reprinting of [your] two granted U.S. Patents, as to reflect the true and factual information.'" (alteration in original). With regard to plaintiffs' first request, the letter states: "the USPTO has no jurisdiction over questions of infringement and the enforcement of patents. Consequently, the USPTO does not have the authority to enforce your demands against the parties that you allege have infringed your patent." With regard to plaintiffs' second request, the letter states: "the USPTO has no authority to lengthen the term of a patent other than 35 USC § 156. . . . The reasons in your letter for requesting an extension of your utility patent's term do not appear to fit the criteria outlined in 35 USC § 156 " Regarding plaintiffs' third request, the letter states:

A filing receipt enclosed with your letter showed a different filing date than that of your patents. However, the enclosed filing receipt is for application number 07/888,214, and our database indicates that U.S. Patent No.5,604,798 issued from application number 08/229,206, which is a different application that was filed on April 18, 1994. U.S. Design Patent D382,264 issued from application number 29/046,496 filed on November 16, 1995.

Among the many other documents included with plaintiffs' complaint are three documents related to the intellectual properties apparently at issue in the plaintiffs' complaint and letter to President Obama: the '264 Patent, the 798 Patent, and a trademark for "The You Talk Two Phone." Plaintiffs include a page from the '264 Patent, which states that the patent was for a "DUAL TELEPHONE BASE," was filed November 16, 1996, and was issued August 12, 1997. The only claim listed in the...