Thomas C. Werner

Thomas C. Werner — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Specialty / focus areas. Werner is a discovery-focused IP litigator at Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles, serving as discovery counsel and specializing in electronic discovery and litigation technology — managing document preservation, collection, production, and review from filing through trial, and briefing/arguing discovery motions. His practice spans patent and trade secret cases in U.S. district courts, ITC investigations, and adversarial proceedings before the PTAB and TTAB. In the tracked matter — Nike, Inc. v. Skechers U.S.A., Inc. (C.D. Cal., 2:23-cv-09346) — the technology is footwear/knit apparel patents, including claim construction over the term "tongue" and counterclaims of invalidity, so his work there sits in the mechanical/apparel-design space rather than software, pharma, or Wi-Fi.

Side preference and firm context. The tracked docket shows one appearance, on the defendant side, defending operating company Skechers as part of an Irell trial team led by Morgan Chu. Werner has been at Irell & Manella throughout his legal career based on available sources (no prior firm history is documented; before law school he worked at Vulcan, Paul Allen's investment company, in business/legal affairs). Firm and docket records show he also performs discovery work on the plaintiff side — e.g., filings as counsel for Netlist in Netlist v. Micron (E.D. Tex.) and a listed spot on Irell's trial team for the $303.15M Netlist v. Samsung verdict (April 2023) — so his e-discovery role appears to serve clients on both sides, though his only tracked appearance is defense-side.

Notable cases and PTAB/IPR experience. The tracked case, Nike v. Skechers, remains active: Skechers filed multiple IPR petitions against Nike's asserted footwear patents (e.g., IPR2025-00141, IPR2025-00151), the district court stayed the case pending institution decisions, and as of early 2026 a renewed stay motion and letters-rogatory disputes were still pending before Judge Birotte. Werner's involvement is discovery-centric, but his bio confirms his practice regularly includes PTAB/TTAB proceedings, and his name appears on team filings in the related Skechers-vs-Nike IPRs — indicating routine, if not lead, exposure to IPR practice.

Bar / education. Admitted to the California Bar (2002) and the U.S. District Courts for the Central and Northern Districts of California; J.D., Loyola Law School Los Angeles (2002); B.A. in History, University of North Texas (1994), magna cum laude.