Joseph R. Re

Over his 35 years with Knobbe Martens, Joseph R. Re helped turn a little Newport Beach law firm into a national powerhouse in intellectual property law. He served as the president of the Federal Circuit Bar Association in 2008-09 and as president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association in 2019.

The secret of his success may be what he called his unfair advantage. His parents were both lawyers and his father, Edward D. Re, was a law professor and federal judge in New York. “I saw my first trial in 1969. … I was nine years old.” In the summers, his father took him to court to watch. “I was fascinated by it. I thought it was incredible,” Re said.

Then in 1972, his father was designated to hear patent cases, and he would bring home some of the products from his cases. “He had a case on a foldable hanger,” the still-excited Re said. “I thought it was fascinating.”

Young Re and his 11 brothers and sisters — “we were our own jury” — were encouraged to aggressively debate the products and cases. “It was just a great way to grow up to really learn how to argue.”

When Re was in law school, his father told him about the then-forming Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. So he secured a clerkship with the new appellate court’s first chief judge, Howard T. Markey. “That’s how I learned about Knobbe Martens.”

Re’s paternal education advantaged him again far more recently. Two years ago, he was eager to defend a trade dress infringement lawsuit filed by the maker of Bang energy drinks against his client Monster Energy over Monster’s Reign drinks. But the Florida federal court wouldn’t allow jury trials during the pandemic.

So the Knobbe Martens team narrowed the available remedies in the case to equitable remedies, which must be tried to a judge alone. As a law professor, Re’s father taught equity, so the fact of no juries in equity trials was “beaten into my head growing up,” he said.

After a nine-day trial, the judge ruled for Monster. The 11th Circuit upheld the decision in August. Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Monster Energy Co., 21-13264 (11th Cir., dec’d Aug. 3, 2022).

Lately, Re and his teams have been representing Masimo Corp. in litigation against Apple and Amazon. In January, an ITC judge ruled that certain Apple watches infringe Masimo’s patents on measuring oxygen in the bloodstream. That decision is now being reviewed by the full commission.

He credits his long success not just to his father, but especially to the teams of attorneys who work with him. “In my business, you’re only as good as the support you have. I have tremendous support,” he said. “I love the teams I’ve assembled here at Knobbe over the past 35 years.”

— Don DeBenedictis