Damon M. Lewis

Damon M. Lewis — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Damon Lewis is an IP litigator whose practice centers on patent and copyright litigation and Federal Circuit appeals in the technology and consumer sectors, with hands-on experience across software, electronics, e-commerce, communications, transportation, and automotive technologies, plus Section 337 investigations before the ITC. His tracked docket is entirely automotive/telematics-related: the sole tracked appearance is Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC v. Yechezkal Evan Spero (lead counsel, Hogan Lovells). Although the case caption lists Mercedes as plaintiff/petitioner, the substance is quintessential defense-side work: Lewis represents a major operating company (Mercedes-Benz) against patent assertions brought by an individual inventor/NPE licensing entity. His firm bio confirms he focuses on "defending corporations against non-practicing entities," and his prior representative matters (online retailers, casino properties, consumer-product manufacturers) reflect the same posture.

Lewis joined Hogan Lovells as a partner in the Intellectual Property, Media & Technology group (Washington, D.C.) in April 2022, after stints at DLA Piper (of counsel, 2017–2022), Frommer Lawrence & Haug (2015–2017), and Jones Day (2009–2015), following a clerkship with Judge H. Robert Mayer on the Federal Circuit. His technical background as a former Oracle software engineer and NSA hardware engineer/cryptanalyst underpins his ability to handle complex electronics patents.

His most prominent matter is the Mercedes-Benz/Spero campaign. Mercedes convinced the PTAB to invalidate the asserted adaptive-headlight patents (U.S. Patent Nos. 11,208,029, 10,894,503, and 9,955,551), and the Federal Circuit affirmed/dismissed the inventor's appeals in nonprecedential decisions in May 2026 — reported by Bloomberg Law as a decisive win for Mercedes and the co-challenging automakers. He has also appeared for Mercedes-Benz in the NEO Wireless patent MDL (E.D. Mich.) and in Phelan Group patent suits in Texas and Georgia.

PTAB/IPR experience: Substantial. Lewis has appeared pro hac vice in multiple Mercedes-Benz IPRs (e.g., IPR2023-01034, -01039, -01040, -01333, -01335), has worked on Board proceedings since 2018, and took the Spero depositions in the underlying ITC-related work.

Bar/education: J.D., University of Michigan Law School (2006); M.Eng. and S.B. in computer science/electrical engineering, MIT (2000/1999). Admitted in DC and Virginia; Federal Circuit, E.D. Va., and E.D. Mich. Named to IAM Strategy 300 (2024–25).