Walter A. Tormasi v. Western Digital Corporation

Petitioner, Walter Tormasi, is the inventor and owner of U.S. Patent No. 7,324,301. In 1998, he was sentenced to life in prison and is currently serving his sentence in New Jersey state prison. Mr. Tormasi tried to enforce his patent by suing Respondent for infringement under 35 U.S.C. § 1 et seq. The courts below held Mr. Tormasi lacked capacity to sue, not based on age or mental capacity, but based solely on a New Jersey prison regulation that prohibits prisoners from conducting business without Administrator approval. The Questions Presented are:

1. Does imprisonment (1) forfeit a patent owner’s right not to be deprived of personal property without due process of law and (2) render a person wholly without equal protection of the law?

2. Does Lewis v. Casey, stating that the right of access to the courts “does not guarantee inmates the wherewithal to transform themselves into litigating engines,” enable state agencies to affirmatively eliminate an inmate’s access to court on general civil matters?

3. The patent statute authorizes patent owners to enforce their constitutionally recognized exclusionary rights in federal court. Did the lower courts create a dangerous slippery slope that (1) establishes a mechanism by which states can, via an administrative rule, nullify federally granted statutory rights and (2) oppresses prisoners by depriving them of property without redress?