Richard Polidi v. Elizabeth U. Mendel

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 23-2104
RICHARD POLIDI,
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v.
ELIZABETH U. MENDEL, in her official capacity as a former Associate Solicitor
of the United States Patent & Trademark Office; JAMES O. PAYNE, in his official
capacity as former Deputy General Counsel of the United States Patent & Trademark
Office; MICHELLE K. LEE, in her official capacity as the former Director of the
United States Patent & Trademark Office; KIMBERLY C. WEINREICH, in her
official capacity as a staff attorney of the United States Patent & Trademark Office;
JOHN HEATON, in his official capacity as Counsel for the United States Patent &
Trademark Office; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; UNITED STATES PATENT
& TRADEMARK OFFICE; DREW HIRSHFELD, performing the functions and
duties of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
the United States Patent & Trademark Office; JOHN DOES 1-10,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at
Alexandria. Patricia Tolliver Giles, District Judge. (1:22-cv-00925-PTG-JFA)
Submitted: June 25, 2025 Decided: September 16, 2025
Before NIEMEYER and RUSHING, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, Senior Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

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2
Richard Polidi, Appellant Pro Se. Dennis Carl Barghaan, Jr., Assistant United States
Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Alexandria, Virginia, for
Appellees.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Richard Polidi filed a civil action in the United States District Court for the District
of Columbia asserting several claims against various United States Patent and Trademark
Office (“PTO”) officials and employees concerning the purported withholding of
exculpatory evidence with regard to his disbarment by the North Carolina State Bar and
the PTO. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (1) dismissed the
majority of Polidi’s claims for improper venue, concluding that transferring the claims to
the Eastern District of Virginia, where venue lie, was not in the interest of justice, and
(2) transferred the remaining claim, alleging violations of the Freedom of Information Act
(“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, to the Eastern District of Virginia. The federal district court in
the Eastern District of Virginia granted summary judgment in favor of Appellees on the
FOIA claim and denied Polidi’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e) motions. Polidi timely appeals the
district courts’ orders.* Having reviewed the record and finding no reversible error, we
affirm the decisions of the district courts. Polidi v. Mendel, No. 1:22-cv-00925-PTG-JFA
(E.D. Va. Sept. 1, 2023; Oct. 20, 2023); Polidi v. Mendel, No. 1:21-cv-01748-FYP (D.D.C.
July 22, 2022). We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions
are adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
AFFIRMED
* We have jurisdiction to review the order of the United States District Court for the
District of Columbia dismissing some claims and transferring the remaining claim to the
Eastern District of Virginia. Cf. Technosteel, LLC v. Beers Constr. Co., 271 F.3d 151, 157
(4th Cir. 2001).

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