Joseph R Re

Practice Areas

Antitrust & Patent Misuse Litigation

Opinions & Counseling

Appellate Litigation

ITC Litigation

Medical Device Litigation

Trade Secret & Employment Mobility Litigation

Trademark & Brand Protection Litigation

Patent Office Litigation

Career

Mr. Re is a nationally recognized trial attorney, having tried numerous high-stakes medical device cases before juries throughout the country over the past thirty-five years.

Mr. Re’s trial success before juries against some of the country’s largest medical device companies has been extraordinary. When leading trial teams representing the firm’s longstanding Orange County based clients, Masimo and Applied Medical, Mr. Re has obtained four nine-figure jury verdicts averaging over $400 million each. The most recent included a $382 million verdict against medical-device giant Medtronic for violating various antitrust laws when selling numerous devices to hospitals in bundled contracts. Mr. Re also led trial teams to help Masimo protect its ground-breaking patient-monitoring technology against its primary rival, where the Federal Circuit affirmed a $134 million award and ordered the entry of a permanent injunction. Those victories allowed Masimo to garner several hundred million in damages and ongoing royalties and to go public. Years later, Mr. Re and his colleagues asserted Masimo patents against patient-monitoring giant Philips. The jury awarded Masimo over $466 million while rejecting Philips infringement claims. The National Law Journal featured the verdict as a top verdict of the year. After the court upheld the verdict, the parties settled in a blockbuster deal where Philips paid Masimo over $300 million and agreed to a joint marketing and sales program in which Philips would integrate Masimo technologies in its patient monitors. Finally, Mr. Re led trial teams in various patent and trade secret cases against Apple and a former employee concerning the Apple Watch. Those cases resulted in various rulings and verdicts including a $636 million jury verdict for patent infringement and declarations that Apple and the employee misappropriated trade secrets. They also included an exclusion order from the International Trade Commission blocking Apple from importing various versions of its Apple Watch.

Mr. Re’s success representing accused infringers has been just as impressive. In all of the numerous cases he has taken to trial, no jury has ever awarded any figure above $5 Million, and in every case, he obtained reversal of those awards or his clients ended up paying nothing upon resolution of the case.

Mr. Re is a very experienced appellate advocate, often selected to argue appeals in cases handled by his colleagues and other law firms. He has argued dozens of appeals over the past thirty-five years, the bulk of which were before the United States Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit on behalf of both intellectual property holders and accused infringers.

Mr. Re served as the President of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Federal Circuit Bar Association, and the Federal Circuit Historical Society. He was a founder and President of the Howard T. Markey American Inns of Court. He served on the Federal Circuit’s Advisory Council for nine years. Mr. Re has also written and spoken extensively on patent law and federal practice and procedure. Since 1990, Mr. Re has authored numerous appellate briefs on behalf of the American Intellectual Property Law Association as amicus curiae before the Supreme Court of the United States and various appellate courts.

The National Law Journal has named Mr. Re one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” and as a “Winning Litigator.” The Daily Journal has repeatedly named Mr. Re as one of the top “100 Leading Lawyers in California.” In 2014, Mr. Re was recognized as “MVP of the Year – Intellectual Property” by Law360. In 2004, The California Lawyer named Re “California Attorney of the Year.” Mr. Re’s numerous awards and honors are detailed below.

Before joining the firm in 1987, Mr. Re served for two years as a law clerk to the Honorable Howard T. Markey, the first Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He became a partner of the firm in 1990 and after 36 years as a partner still has a very active trial and appellate practice today.

Professional Memberships

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

- Advisory Council (2005-2015)

Federal Circuit Bar Association

- President (2008-2009)

- President-Elect (2007-2008)

- Vice President (2006-2007)

- Treasurer (2004-2006)

- Board of Directors (2001-2004)

American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)

-President (2020-2021)

-President-Elect (2019-2020)

-First Vice President (2018-2019)

-Second Vice President (2017-2018)

- Board of Directors (2003-2006)

- Chairman of the Amicus Committee (1997-1999)

- Authored numerous amicus curiae briefs for AIPLA in landmark patent cases such as Markman, Festo, Cardinal Chemical, Florida Prepaid, College Savings Bank, Microsoft v. AT&T, and Gunn v. Minton, each before the Supreme Court of the United States