John E. Thorne

John E. Thorne — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Specialty / focus areas. Thorne is a Washington, DC–based trial and appellate partner whose patent work centers on complex technology disputes — telecommunications and networking (fiber-optic equipment, LCD glass substrates), standard-essential and codec technologies, and Section 101 validity issues — largely at the intersection of IP, antitrust, and ITC trade litigation. His practice spans district court, the Federal Circuit, the ITC, and proceedings before the USPTO. He is equally known as a Supreme Court–level antitrust and telecom litigator (e.g., Trinko, Twombly, Discon), and much of his IP work (Verizon, Corning) grew out of that telecom background.

Side preference / firm context. The tracked appearances list one plaintiff-side matter: Corning Incorporated v. TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co. et al., where he serves as counsel for Corning at Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick. Historically, however, he has worked both sides — lead trial counsel for defendant Dell in Audio MPEG v. Dell (E.D. Va. 2017) and for complainant/plaintiff Corning and Verizon in other matters. Before joining Kellogg Hansen, he was Verizon's SVP and Deputy General Counsel for IP, competition, and privacy; earlier in his career he practiced at Kirkland & Ellis. His firm biography describes representation of both patent owners and accused infringers in district court and at the ITC.

Notable cases / outcomes. Thorne won one of the first post-eBay patent injunctions, affirmed in Verizon v. Vonage Holdings Corp., 503 F.3d 1295 (Fed. Cir. 2007), and obtained a General Exclusion Order for Corning Optical Communications in the ITC's first pandemic-era evidentiary trial (Certain High-Density Fiber Optic Equipment, Inv. No. 337-TA-1194 (2020)), which he then enforced in a 2022 enforcement proceeding. He also led a tech-company effort to reinvigorate Section 101 that contributed to the Supreme Court's Mayo decision. In the tracked Corning matter, Corning is asserting LCD glass-substrate patents and trade secrets against TCL CSOT, Caihong, and other Chinese display makers in the Eastern District of Virginia and in ITC Investigation No. 337-TA-1441; the ITC proceeding saw early settlements (HKC, VIZIO, LG) and an April 2026 initial determination finding infringement of two Corning patents as to remaining respondents (respondents' counsel publicly framed the net result as favorable to their client; final Commission action is not verified here).

PTAB / bar / education. Thorne is identified in firm and Federalist Society bios as having appeared before the USPTO, and he has been involved in patent-quality/Section 101 policy advocacy, but no specific IPR/PGR appearances were verified in this search. He holds an A.B. summa cum laude in mathematics from Kenyon College (1978) and a J.D. cum laude from Northwestern (1981, Order of the Coif), and clerked for Chief Judge Walter Cummings of the Seventh Circuit; he is admitted in Illinois (1981), the District of Columbia (1989), and before the U.S. Supreme Court (1990).