Joseph R. Re

Last year, Re had two trials virtually back to back that couldn’t have been more different.

He enjoyed the first one, involving a lawsuit by the makers of Bang! energy drinks over the colors and design of the cans for the new Reign brand of drinks from his client, Monster Energy Co. Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Monster Energy Co., 19-CV60809 (S.D. Fla., filed March 28, 2019)

The nonjury trial lasted nine days in August and September, he said, and it was tried over Zoom.

“This was a really great experience because we turned one of our large conference rooms into a courtroom. … We had witnesses who actually came and testified in another room all by Zoom,” the patent litigator said. “We had so many screens.”

“We had to present it just like it was a real trial,” he said. The judge has yet to issue his decision, but Re feels confident.

The following month, Re put on a jury trial in person. Knobbe and another firm defended Amazon.com Inc. against a claim that the company’s Echo device infringes intellectual property of the plaintiff’s microphone array system. Vocalife LLC v. Amazon.com Inc., 19-CV00123 (E.D. Tex. Nov. 27, 2019)

The plaintiff sought $30 million, but the jury awarded just $5 million against Amazon, which Re said is a decent showing for a patent defendant in East Texas. So that wasn’t why he disliked the trial.

Because of the pandemic, the mood in the courtroom was always very somber, he said, robbing the trial of any excitement. People were scolded if they weren’t wearing masks, while jurors had to wear face shields.

“I love trials, but that one will not be one of my favorites,” Re said.

The case is still active in the post-trial phase, he said.

In the meantime, he continues working with many companies in the medical technology area, including device maker Masimo Corp., which he began representing in 1998.

In October, Re became president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. This year, the association provided extensive comments to Congress on a bill creating a new small claims-style tribunal for copyright disputes.

He did have to cancel international trips he had planned because of the pandemic. But the association’s national meetings have prospered over Zoom.

“In fact, I myself never saw so much of the meetings as I did this past year,” he said.

— Don DeBenedictis