465 F.3d 493
Sol SHEINBEIN, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
Jon W. DUDAS, Director, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Defendant-Appellee.
No. 06-1161.
United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.
September 25, 2006.
Sol Sheinbein, of Falls Church, VA, pro se.
John M. Whealan, Solicitor, Office of the Solicitor, United States Patent and Trademark Office, of Arlington, VA, for defendant-appellee. With him on the brief were Thomas L. Stoll, Linda M. Isacson, and Sydney O. Johnson, Jr., Associate Solicitors.
Before NEWMAN, LOURIE, and RADER, Circuit Judges.
LOURIE, Circuit Judge.
DECISION
Sol Sheinbein appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia sustaining the decision of the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") excluding Sheinbein from practice before the USPTO. Sheinbein v. Dudas, Civ. No. 05-1460 (D.D.C. Oct. 25, 2005) ("Decision"). Because the USPTO has statutory authority to so exclude Sheinbein based on his disbarment in other jurisdictions, and because the statute of limitations does not preclude Sheinbein's exclusion, we affirm.
BACKGROUND
In 1997, Sheinbein, a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and the State of Maryland and an attorney registered to practice in the USPTO, helped his son flee to Israel after learning that the son was being investigated in connection with a murder. Decision, slip op. at 1-2. In 2001, the Maryland Court of Appeals determined that Sheinbein had committed the criminal act of obstructing or hindering a police officer and had engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. Id., slip op. at 2. Based on those findings, Sheinbein was barred from practicing law in Maryland on December 16, 2002. Id. On March 11, 2004, the D.C. Court of Appeals barred Sheinbein from the practice of law in the District of Columbia as reciprocal discipline for his misconduct in Maryland. Id.
In March 2004, the Director of the USPTO's Office of Enrollment and Discipline filed a complaint instituting a disciplinary proceeding pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 10.134 that proposed to exclude Sheinbein from practice in the USPTO based on his disbarment in the State of the Maryland and the District of Columbia. Id., slip op. at 2-3. Following motions for summary judgment by both the USPTO and Sheinbein, an Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") issued an Initial Decision holding that Sheinbein should be excluded from practice in the USPTO for two reasons: first, reciprocal discipline due to his disbarment in Maryland and the District of Columbia; and second, applying the five factors in 37 C.F.R. § 10.154(b), disbarment was the "only appropriate sanction." Id., slip op. at 3. Sheinbein appealed the ALJ's Initial Decision to the Director of the USPTO, who adopted the ALJ's factual findings and legal conclusions and imposed the sanction of excluding Sheinbein from practice in the USPTO. Id.
Sheinbein appealed the USPTO's decision to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Id., slip op. at 4. On October 24, 2005, the district court granted the USPTO's motion for summary judgment of affirmance and dismissed the