Block v. United States

66 Fed. Cl. 68, 2005 U.S. Claims LEXIS 156, 2005 WL 1395042
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 1, 2005
DocketNo. 03-1766C
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 66 Fed. Cl. 68 (Block v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Block v. United States, 66 Fed. Cl. 68, 2005 U.S. Claims LEXIS 156, 2005 WL 1395042 (uscfc 2005).

Opinion

OPINION GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION

FIRESTONE, Judge.

Pending before the court is the United States’ (“defendant’s” or “government’s”) motion for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”) with respect to the plaintiff, Edward B. Block’s, (“plaintiffs”) claims for damages for breach of an implied-in-fact contract and for just compensation under the Fifth Amendment for a taking of property. Also pending is the government’s motion to dismiss the plaintiffs conversion claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under RCFC 12(b)(1). The plaintiffs claims arise from the government’s alleged use of proprietary information contained in the plaintiffs unsolicited proposal for a government contract. The government argues that the plaintiffs claims for breach of an implied-in-fact contract and for just compensation for a taking fail because the plaintiff failed to mark his unsolicited proposal with a restrictive legend identifying any proprietary information, as required by applicable agency guidelines.1 The government contends that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the plaintiffs conversion claim because it sounds in tort. For the reasons that follow, the government’s motion for summary judgment and to dismiss is GRANTED and the claims sounding in tort will be transferred.

BACKGROUND

The following facts are not disputed unless otherwise noted.2 This case concerns the plaintiffs unsolicited proposal to the government offering to provide services in connection with the study and testing of wiring in aging aircraft. Federal authorities became concerned with the wiring in aging aircraft after an investigation indicated that wiring failures were the possible cause of the TWA 800 accident off the shore of Long Island, New York. In response, President Clinton established the “Gore Commission” to study aircraft safety and security issues, including wiring. In its Final Report, the Gore Commission recommended, inter alia, that the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”), in [70]*70cooperation with airlines and manufacturers, expand its Aging Aircraft program to cover non-structural systems such as wiring. Specifically, the Commission noted that there was insufficient knowledge “about the potential effects of age on non-structural components of commercial aircraft” such as “electrical wiring; connectors, wiring harnesses, and cables; and fuel, hydraulic and pneumatic lines; and electro-mechanical systems such as pumps, sensors, and actuators.” Defendant’s Appendix (“Def.App.”) at A10, Gore Commission Final Report at 10. The Commission recommended that the FAA take steps to address these concerns. Id. It is not disputed that the plaintiff is an expert in aircraft wiring and that he briefed representatives of the Commission. The Commission’s findings were published in a final report on February 12, 1997. The FAA, in turn, addressed the Commission’s recommendations in the FAA Aging Transport NonStructural Systems Plan, which was published in July 1998.

Aware that the government would be addressing the issue of aircraft wiring, the plaintiff sought to craft a joint proposal between the FAA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) regarding the problem of aging aircraft wiring. It is not disputed that the plaintiff exchanged various drafts of proposals with individuals associated with NASA. In particular, the plaintiff sent drafts of a joint proposal to Mr. Ahmad Hammond at the NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. He also referenced working with Mr. Dick Patterson at NASA. The plaintiff apparently does not dispute that the drafts exchanged between the plaintiff and government personnel at NASA were not marked “confidential” or “proprietary”. In addition, the plaintiff does not dispute that he never asked anyone at NASA to whom he submitted a draft proposal to sign a confidentiality agreement or nondisclosure agreement. Def.App. at A160, Block Dep. at 97.

On March 17, 1999, the plaintiff submitted an unsolicited proposal to the FAA entitled “Joint Proposal for Wiring” (“Joint Proposal”) in which he proposed to identify and test defective wiring on aircraft. It is not disputed that the Joint Proposal did not contain a restrictive legend, on either the title sheet or on any individual sheet, indicating the presence of trade secrets or proprietary information. In addition, the plaintiff did not mark the Joint Proposal as “confidential” or “proprietary”. See DefApp. at A163, Block Dep. at 104.

After reviewing the plaintiffs proposal, the FAA informed the plaintiff that it had rejected his proposal on April 14, 1999. Def.App. at A128. The plaintiff objected to the rejection by letter on April 19, 1999. Def.App. at A129-30. It is not disputed that the plaintiff did not indicate in his objection letter that his proposal contained any proprietary or confidential information. The plaintiff sent another letter to the FAA in May 1999, again objecting to the rejection of his proposal. Def.App. at A131-32. Again, the plaintiff did not indicate that his March 1999 Joint Proposal contained any proprietary or confidential information.

In February 2002, the plaintiff informed the FAA via e-mail that he believed that various FAA solicitations “parallel my Joint Proposal submitted with NASA on 17 March 1999.” Def.App. at A133. In that same email, the plaintiff objected to the “use of [his] material without compensation”. Id. He did not, however, claim that his proposal contained trade secrets or any proprietary information.

The FAA responded to the plaintiffs email by letter dated February 15, 2002. The letter stated that “current and closed solicitations are statements of FAA requirements neither discovered by you nor proprietary to you.” DefApp. at A133. The plaintiff did not respond to the letter. Instead, he filed a bid protest in the FAA Office of Dispute Resolution for Acquisition. The protest alleged that the FAA had “misappropriated information set forth in an unsolicited proposal submitted to the FAA by [the plaintiff] in 1999 ---- More specifically, [the plaintiff] claims that recent FAA solicitations and contracts utilize information supplied by [the plaintiff] concerning wiring systems in commercial aircraft.” DefApp. at A135. His bid protest was rejected for lack of standing, on the ground that he had not submitted any bid.

[71]*71The plaintiff filed the present action in July 2003 claiming that the FAA and NASA “appropriated plaintiffs proposal, work, trade secret and intellectual property, without his consent and without compensation” when the FAA allegedly used the information contained in his unsolicited proposal for internal purposes and in solicitations for testing aging wiring.3 The plaintiff argues that under the FAA’s acquisition regulations, the FAA is not allowed to use any unsolicited proposal without the consent of the offeror.4 The plaintiff relies on the FAA’s Acquisition Management System (“AMS”) regulations which state as follows:

FAA personnel should not use any data, concept, idea or other part of an unsolicited proposal as the basis, or part of the basis, for a SIR or in communications with any other firm unless the offeror is notified of and agrees to the intended use. However, this prohibition does not preclude using any data, concept, or idea available to the FAA from other sources without restrictions.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Jarvis v. United States
Federal Claims, 2021
Scott v. United States
134 Fed. Cl. 755 (Federal Claims, 2017)
Benjamin Gal-Or v. United States
113 Fed. Cl. 540 (Federal Claims, 2013)
Jordan M. Meschkow v. United States
109 Fed. Cl. 637 (Federal Claims, 2013)
Mobile Medical International Corp. v. United States
95 Fed. Cl. 706 (Federal Claims, 2010)
Grayton v. United States
92 Fed. Cl. 327 (Federal Claims, 2010)
FFTF Restoration Co. v. United States
86 Fed. Cl. 226 (Federal Claims, 2009)
Goist v. United States
85 Fed. Cl. 726 (Federal Claims, 2009)
Information Sciences Corp. v. United States
85 Fed. Cl. 195 (Federal Claims, 2008)
Griffin v. United States
85 Fed. Cl. 179 (Federal Claims, 2008)
Precision Images, LLC v. United States
79 Fed. Cl. 598 (Federal Claims, 2007)
PHT Supply Corp. v. United States
71 Fed. Cl. 1 (Federal Claims, 2006)
S.K.J. & Associates, Inc. v. United States
67 Fed. Cl. 218 (Federal Claims, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
66 Fed. Cl. 68, 2005 U.S. Claims LEXIS 156, 2005 WL 1395042, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/block-v-united-states-uscfc-2005.