Dustin M. Knight

Dustin M. Knight — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Knight is an IP litigator at Cooley LLP (associate per his firm bio, based in Washington, DC, with directory listings also in Reston, VA), focused on high-stakes patent, trade secret, and related antitrust disputes for medical device and technology companies — work he describes as sitting at the intersection of medicine, engineering, and tech. His practice centers on medtech/life-sciences hardware: flow cytometry, spinal implants, insulin delivery, and robotic therapy devices, alongside litigation touching liquid cooling, home security, and chemical/energy technologies (Cooley bio; Law360). He does not appear to handle standard-essential-patent/Wi-Fi or pharmaceutical Hatch-Waxman work.

His tracked docket (5 appearances, all at Cooley) is essentially one dispute: the Beckman Coulter v. Cytek Biosciences flow-cytometry patent fight and its companion Cytek v. Beckman Coulter action, where he has represented Cytek Biosciences on both sides of the docket — three appearances defending Cytek (two as lead counsel) and two prosecuting Cytek's claims. The profile is consistent with his bio's statement that he appears for both plaintiffs and defendants, though the weight of his tracked work is defense of an operating medical-device company rather than NPE/PAE assertion work.

Notable matters and outcomes. In the tracked Beckman/Cytek litigation, a Delaware jury ruled on August 21, 2026, in Cytek's favor on three of four asserted Beckman claims (noninfringement/invalidity) but found infringement under the doctrine of equivalents on one claim, awarding roughly $56.1 million in past damages ($20M lost profits + $36.11M royalties); Cytek announced post-verdict motions and a possible Federal Circuit appeal (SEC 8-K; Cytek press release). He was also part of the Cooley team, led by partner Reuben Chen, that won a Litigation Daily "Shout Out" in September 2025 for RSB Spine against J&J's DePuy unit, including preserving a $12 million infringement verdict and winning a rare patent-interference bench trial over spinal implant patents (Cooley news). He is a registered patent attorney (USPTO Reg. No. 76,239) and has been recognized by Patexia as a top-ranked IPR practitioner.

PTAB/IPR and credentials. IPR practice is a genuine pillar of his profile: he has defended spinal-implant and liquid-cooling patents in IPRs (including a Federal Circuit reversal of an adverse PTAB decision against the USPTO Solicitor), obtained institution of five IPR petitions for a home security client, and has appeared as back-up counsel in PTAB proceedings for RSB Spine (Cooley bio; PTAB power-of-attorney filing). Before Cooley he clerked for Judge Roderick C. Young and externed for Judge Robert E. Payne (E.D. Va.) and wrote for the University of Richmond Law Review. Bar/education: admitted in Virginia (2017 per Martindale); J.D. from the University of Richmond; undergraduate credentials not reliably sourced.