If you could provide for your family by writing a patent and then have it sold for almost half a million dollars, you'd think that would be good, right?
Well, that is exactly what I did. But remainder of events, from my personal perspective, resulted in being subject to intimidation, threats, loss of work, theft, extortion and an economical guerilla against myself and my family [this is a statement of opinion, facts to follow].
The patent application available here.
The patent was writen in 2003. Some 8 years later, Apple produced Siri which played in the same area as the patent's property. The table was set for a good payday and I felt good that I had come with many good ideas much time before than a major corporation.
We all agreed on selling, yet during the sale process, a minor investor under the name of Paul J. Lagassey which was involved in the sale directed the proceeds to a bank account that he had secretly opened and solely controlled the funds later at his own discretion, which didn't involve distributing any proceeds to other members that had rights to it (apparently, at least without grabing a larger cut and extorting others for a smaller one in exchange of a release statement since he had gained control of the money).
Prior to the sale:
Paul J. Lagassey wrote (7/20/2011): "Attached is a spread sheet with a worse case scenario on a sale at $400k, and a resolution authorizing the sale of Conceptual IP in two portfolios (Conceptual Assets and SpeechVibe Assets),at $400k each." ... "Philippe's Share - 62.3% $127,834 Paul's Share - 28.2% $49,167 XXXX's Share - 8.5% $19,667".
Following the sale:
Paul J. Lagassey wrote (12/22/2011): "The closing has happened, and there are several problems that we have to resolve." ... "Roy $56,215 Ametrine $142,204 XXXX $9,263" ... "If you agree, then I will send you general releases and assignment documents, and as soon as I get back signed copies I’ll initiate a wire transfer to you".
"Further, you are put on notice that if you try to do anything that I perceive as potentially harmful to the minority members, I will use your resolution to go to court and seek an injunction to stop you. Of course this will be expensive and will further deplete the assets of the company. I would consider an attempt to remove me as manager to be such an act, as would an proposed that would impact the right of a minority member without their consent.. And finally, you may think that if you'd handled the transfer of the money differently that the outcome would have been different. But let me assure you after your resolution opened my eyes, had you tried to do that I would have done whatever was necessary to stop you or stop the sale".
My morals did not allow me to accept his terms. In my opinion, Paul J. Lagassey just committed an act of theft, and he even stated himself it was premeditated, making him an even more vicious being. Premeditation in theft as well as in murder, is worst as it precludes the elaboration and execution of a plan, and not strictly a concourse of circumstances or events.
Almost immediately, I wrote, to himself and other partners (12/23/2011): "Please be advised that Paul Lagassey was removed as the Manager of Conceptual Speech, LLC, effective as of 1:43 AM on 12/23/2011. The official communication sent to him this morning is attached to this e-mail".
The legal battle
Paul J. Lagassey wrote (2/20/2012): "But allegations that you misappropriated conceptual technology to nuance and a court order to seize your computer are within the realm of probability in a civil - ask XXXX XXXXXX. Some ivr systems out there now act suspiciously like conceptual - keep messing with me & one day you may come to work & find a pink slip in place of your computer".
Paul J. Lagassey wrote (4/29/2012): "So be on notice that any threats against my person or unwelcome entry into my home or office will be met with a call to 911 (if time and circumstances allow) and the appropriate force needed (including deadly force if necessary) to deter the attack pending the arrival of the sheriff or the police".
As far as I can tell, this last message from Lagassey was simply writen to communicate that he had the means to use deadly force on myself and I felt intimidated by it (although not to the point to stand down).
At the time, I thought this was going to be an easy police investigation since I knew who the guy was, I had strong documentation and the facts were pretty much all in my favour. To my surprise, when I presented the case to the FBI, after less than a week looking at documentation, they stated this was a civil case.
On august 5th 2012, I posted this report, in order to protect people from a man that I deemed dangerous.
Paul J. Lagassey wrote (9/6/2012): "So, in closing, the only settlement option available at this time is that you walk away. That is for you to assign all of your interests in both Conceptual entities to Ametrine, and sign general releases having a clause stating that the releases become void if you or anyone acting through you harasses me or commits violence against me. Ametrine and I will sign general releases, and you will not be a party to various suits that are coming".
Once again, as a result of that communication, I felt intimidated. I declined the generous settlement offer to walk away from 10 years of work and a successfully writen patent application that generated almost half a million in revenue from about 100 sheet of white paper.
On September 13th 2012, about a month later, I received a suit, at my workplace, even though my residence address was known to him (lost my work there about 3 months later and I would not rule-out the fact this event may be related) for an unrelated and unfounded suit that he later dropped.
On May 5th 2014, after a long time negotiating trying to settle this on reasonable terms, I filed my own lawsuit to voice my rights through these events.
On August 4th 2014, Paul J. Lagassey filed a and libel suit against myself. Note that such a suit was brought to the Federal Court system since, most presumably, it is more expensive to defend against such a case than in State court, further using the cost-barrier of the legal system to intimidate and steal in all impunity, in my opinion. I would add even more, facts and the Law do not seem to matter here. The doctrine of "Fair Use" in law allows the limited of a protected asset "for purposes such as criticism", hence his case is void, but it will nevertheless cost me 10s of thousand to get this accepted. It all seems to me as an economic guerilla that doesn't have much to do with Justice.
So far, my legal bills pile-up to about $50,000 and I am not even close to the Justice I deserve since I am mostly on the defensive having to respond to his apparent baseless suits.This is the reason I am making the present plea for donations. Because if Paul J. Lagassey can run away with money that is not his, he may run with yours one day. Or, you may meet your own Paul J. Lagassey (with a different name) and if they collectively repeatedly stay unstopped, the world will not be a better place. Because the United-States of America decided that I had to deal with Paul J. Lagassey, on a civil case basis, and I strongly feel that my s are for the best for Law-abiding citizens for him to be dealt with. Because the system is so screwed-up that widely apparent criminal-acts are little investigated when parties know each other and many people figured that one out and they are capitalizing on that breach, at the expense of less prepared people.
In my opinion, we, hard-working Law-abiding citizens, need to fight back, one Paul J. Lagassey at a time to leave a better world to our children.