Joseph R. Re

The rules in the Eastern District of Texas are that lawyers are not to speak to jurors, even after the trial is over.

But after Re won a defense verdict in October on behalf of his client, Applied Medical Resources Corp., the jury had a specific request for U.S. District Judge Ron Clark. They wanted to meet with Re and his client.

"The judge said that since the note was explicit, he was going to allow it," Re recalls, saying it was a terrific experience to meet with the jurors, one of whom subsequently submitted a job application to Irvine-based Applied Medical Resources.

Tyco Healthcare Group LP was seeking more than $150 million in damages during what turned out to be two trials over medical devices through which surgical instruments are inserted through the abdomen in laparoscopic surgery.

In the end, Re said, Tyco only got $4 million after the second trial ended with the jury concluding that none of his client's products infringed the patents. Tyco Healthcare Group LP v. Applied Medical Resources Corp., 09-176 (E.D. Tx., filed Oct. 29, 2009).

In February, Re argued the appeal of a ruling in favor of his client, Smith & Nephew Inc., before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The case involved allegations that Re's client infringed Kinetic Concepts Inc.'s patents on negative pressure wound therapy. U.S. District Judge W. Royal Furgeson Jr. ruled that the patents were obvious under patent law, a decision Kinetic's attorneys appealed.

Re also is the midst of the ongoing legal debate over patent damages, and is currently appealing a New York federal judge's decision that the royalty for a patent on a personalized elevator control system is much smaller than what he believes it should be.

In July, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon ruled that Otis Elevator Co. infringed the patent belonging to client Inventio AG, but Re was dissatisfied with her damages ruling and appealed that to the Federal Circuit. Arguments are scheduled there this summer.

- CRAIG ANDERSON

<!-- Joseph R. Re -->