Mr. Luehrs’ first trial experience prior to joining Desmarais LLP was serving as the first-chair trial attorney as a fifth year associate for the designer of the Laser sailboat, Bruce Kirby, in a Federal Court jury trial concerning willful trademark infringement and misappropriation of Mr. Kirby’s name and likeness. Through his opening statement, witness examinations, and closing argument, Mr. Luehrs convinced the jury that the defendants’ infringement willful and to award Mr. Kirby millions in damages, including punitive damages. Following the trial, Mr. Luehrs successfully briefed and argued a post-trial motion and secured a further award of over $730,000 in attorneys’ fees for Mr. Kirby from the Court.
Most recently, in October 2024, Mr. Luehrs was a member of a trial team that represented plaintiff Apple Inc. against defendant Masimo Corporation in the District of Delaware. The team obtained a jury verdict of willful infringement against Masimo on two Apple design patents relating to the Apple watch and its charger. At the trial, Mr. Luehrs took testimony from Apple’s industrial design expert, who demonstrated Masimo’s design patent infringement, and cross-examined Masimo’s lead witness and corporate representative to help convince the jury that Masimo’s infringement was willful.
A month earlier, in September 2024, Mr. Luehrs was a member of another trial team in the Eastern District of Texas representing defendant IBM against plaintiff Pardalis Technology Licensing, L.L.C. concerning IBM’s blockchain products. After working on damages issues earlier in the case, Mr. Luehrs cross-examined Pardalis’ financial expert witness at the trial. Pardalis had asked the jury for $167,000,000 million in damages, but Mr. Luehrs helped convince the jury to award just a small portion of that amount through his cross-examination of that witness and additional admissions obtained by Mr. Luehrs through his cross-examination of the plaintiff’s technical expert. The case favorably settled shortly after trial.
In January 2024, Mr. Luehrs was a member of another trial team that represented a patent holder, Ravgen, Inc., in the Western District of Texas against Natera Inc. concerning non-invasive prenatal testing. The jury found the asserted patent valid and infringed. The jury’s verdict against Natera followed a prior finding of willful infringement by LabCorp on the same patent in September 2022. Mr. Luehrs’ responsibilities at the Ravgen trials included taking testimony from the patent holder’s founder and CEO and cross-examining one of the LabCorp’s fact-witnesses with knowledge about LabCorp’s willful infringement.
Prior Experience
- Associate, Whitmyer IP Group LLC
Courts
- United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
- United States District Court for the District of Colorado
- United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Western District of Texas