Mr. Gurka has 25 years of experience as an Intellectual Property specialist with a proven record of success in Intellectual Property/Technology litigation matters.
In 2015, the Daily Journal recognized Mr. Gurka as one of the Top 75 Intellectual Property Litigators in California. He also has been recognized with numerous other awards for his litigation success on behalf of his clients including being repeatedly named one of “The World’s Leading Patent Professionals” by Intellectual Asset Magazine (IAM) in the IAM 1000 (2012-2022), an “IP Star” by Managing IP (2013-2022), and recognized by the Legal 500 for Patent Litigation (2018-2021). Client comments from recent surveys state:
“Clear and concise communicator who takes a pragmatic approach to litigation and executes well on high-level strategy.”
“Responsive and proactive, Gurka oversees patent litigation and filings with excellent results. He is very knowledgeable about the current state of patent law and a pragmatic business and strategic adviser.”
“I worked with a team from Knobbe Martens led by Jon Gurka. I felt that the support for our litigation and the protection of our brand was comprehensive. The range of resources from Knobbe Martens was excellent.”
Jon has a broad intellectual property litigation practice, having handled patent, trademark, trade dress, copyright, trade secret, unfair competition and breach of contract cases. His current practice primarily involves handling complex patent litigation cases. His other legal experience includes advising clients in due diligence matters and licensing negotiations.
His technology experience includes semiconductor processing and manufacturing, computer hardware and software systems, microprocessor control systems, electro-mechanical control systems, complex digital signal processing techniques, computer numerical control machines and systems, telecommunications, medical devices and surgical procedures, and thermodynamic systems and processes.
Mr. Gurka has significant trial experience, including serving as lead counsel on behalf of Inventio AG and Schindler Elevator Corporation against Otis Elevator Co. involving Schindler’s patented Schindler ID® elevator system. In 2014, he served as trial counsel for Masimo Corporation in a three-week jury trial against Philips Electronics North America Corp. and Philips Medizin Systeme Böblingen GmbH. Masimo obtained a $466 million verdict based on infringement of its patents covering pulse oximetry technology. The verdict was featured in The National Law Journal's "Top Verdicts of 2014" as the top intellectual property verdict and number 5 verdict overall, and was also listed as the "Top IP Award of 2014" by Law360. Mr. Gurka had a primary role at trial of handling the defense against Philips’ counterclaim patent for which Philips sought $169 million in damages. The jury rejected Philips’ infringement case on all theories and awarded zero damages.
Previously, Mr. Gurka served as trial counsel for Masimo in a five-week jury trial against a division of Tyco Healthcare. Masimo obtained a $134.5 million verdict based on infringement of its pulse oximetry patents. After post-trial motions, the court increased the award to $164 million. Mr. Gurka also served as trial counsel on behalf of Advanced Thermal Sciences, a subsidiary of B/E Aerospace, against Applied Materials, Inc. After a two-week bench trial, the court issued a ruling finding in favor of Advanced Thermal on all substantive issues.
Mr. Gurka currently serves as the Co-Chair of the firm’s Electrical Engineering/Computer Science/Consumer Electronics Litigation Practice Group and Trade Secret/Employment Mobility Litigation Practice Group.
Before joining the firm, Mr. Gurka worked as a Senior Information Management Consultant with Andersen Consulting, now Accenture, working in software application development.
Mr. Gurka has received multiple awards and has been honored both nationally and internationally for his legal accomplishments:
- Selected by peers for inclusion in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for his work in Intellectual Property Litigation.
- Recognized as a Patent Star in Managing IP's "IP STARS" Guide for his outstanding intellectual property legal work (2013 - 2022).
- Named one of the "World's Leading Patent Professionals" for litigation in the Patent 1000 guide by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine (2012 - 2022). In recent surveys, clients have commented: “clear and concise communicator who takes a pragmatic approach to litigation and executes well on high-level strategy,” and “Responsive and proactive, Gurka oversees patent litigation and filings with excellent results. He is very knowledgeable about the current state of patent law and a pragmatic business and strategic adviser.”
- Recognized by The Legal 500 "United States" for Patent Litigation (2014 - 2015, 2018 - 2021). In 2015, he was also highly recommended for having extensive experience in trade dress, unfair competition and contract breach matters.
- Recognized as a “Southern California Super Lawyer” for his work in intellectual property litigation by Super Lawyers magazine (2017 - 2018)
- Recognized by the Daily Journal as one of the Top 75 Intellectual Property Litigators in California in 2015.
- Named as one of Southern California’s “Rising Stars” in intellectual property litigation in a survey of his peers, published in Los Angeles magazine and Super Lawyers magazine (2006 - 2007).
- Named in OC Metro magazine. In its August 2009 issue, Mr. Gurka was named as one of “O.C.’s Top Lawyers” in the category of Intellectual Property Law and Copyright Infringement. In 2010 and 2011, he was again recognized as a top lawyer in the area of Copyright Infringement. In 2014 and 2015, he was named a top lawyer in the category of Intellectual Property.
Quoted, "Micron Ruling May Spark New Wave of Venue Fights" Law360 (November 2017)
Co-Author, “Recent Trends In Inter Partes Review Estoppel,” Law360 (November 2017)
Quoted, "Federal Circuit Needed To Clear Up IPR Estoppel Divide," Law360 (March 2017)
Co-Author, “District Courts And PTAB Are Divided On IPR Estoppel,” Law360, Portfolio Media, Inc. (March 2017)
Annual supplement to Chapter 186, "Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit" in 8 West's Federal Forms - National Courts (West Pub. 1995), contributor
Digitech Image Technologies, LLC v. General Imaging Company: Lead counsel for General Imaging in patent litigation suit involving a digital image processing system patent. Case resolved.
Credit Management Services v. Fisher & Paykel Financial Services, CDR arbitration proceeding filed in San Francisco: Represented Fisher & Paykel in challenging the jurisdiction of the arbitration panel and obtained a dismissal with prejudice of the entire arbitration.
Samsung Electronics/Samsung Telecommunications: Represented Samsung entities in patent litigation in Nevada (satellite receivers) and W.D. Texas (cell phones).
St. Clair Intellectual Property Consultants v. General Imaging Co.: Represented General Imaging in patent litigation in Delaware involving digital camera technology.
Speeches & Seminars
Speaker, OCBA Corporate Counsel Section luncheon on trade secret litigation (November 2017)
Co-presenter for "Masimo: A Patent Success Story" during ACCA Double Header Conference (July 2017)
Panelist, Webinar, “IPR Estoppel at District Courts,” Intellectual Property Owners Association (March 2017)
Panelist, Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) In-House Counsel Conference "IP Agreements: Lessons Learned the Hard Way" (February 2017)
Speaker 2004 LSI Conference in Seattle: Calculating & Proving Patent Damages