Kenneth R. O'Rourke

Partner

Ken O'Rourke is a partner in O'Melveny's Los Angeles office, head of the Los Angeles Litigation Practice, and a member of the Antitrust and Competition and the Intellectual Property & Technology Practices.  He represents established and emerging companies in complex, multi-forum civil litigation including antitrust cases (class actions, monopolization, international cartels, unfair competition), intellectual property lawsuits (patents, trade secrets, standard setting), and other business controversies.  Chambers USA 2011 ranks Ken for his antitrust practice, noting that "he wins particular acclaim for his cartel work."

Illustrative Professional Experience

Antitrust / Class Actions

Price fixing

• Lead counsel defending against numerous direct and indirect purchaser class actions alleging illegal price fixing and/or coordinated supply restraints under federal and state antitrust and unfair competition laws
• Lead counsel defending against lawsuits filed by dozens of State Attorneys General on behalf of state and local governments and state citizens (parens patriae) asserting federal and state law claims as direct and indirect purchasers of allegedly price fixed products
• Lead counsel defending against large direct action antitrust lawsuits brought by settlement class "opt outs" who purchased billions of dollars of allegedly price fixed or supply restrained products
• Briefed, argued for defense group and twice won dismissal of indirect purchasers’ California Cartwright Act and 13 other state law antitrust claims on the basis of lack of antitrust standing.  In re Dynamic Random Access Memory Antitrust Litigation, 516 F. Supp. 2d 1072 (N.D. Cal. 2007) (DRAM I); 536 F. Supp. 2d 1129 (N.D. Cal. 2008) (DRAM II)
• Trial team member for technology company defending multi-billion dollar antitrust claim; November 2011 jury verdict for defense on all claims
• Listed in the forthcoming 2012 edition of "Who's Who Legal - The International Who's Who of Competition Lawyers"

Monopolization / Unfair Competition

• Trial counsel for California electronics firm in federal court jury trials asserting Walker Process / patent misuse and attempted monopolization claims against a dominant international electronics component manufacturer
• Counsel for semiconductor manufacturer pursuing monopolization and unfair competition claims in federal court against a semiconductor technology licensing firm charged with abusing a computer industry standard setting process, with related proceedings in the International Trade Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and the European Commission
• Counsel for a technology company accused in a series of class actions of violating California state unfair competition laws in connection with the company’s traffic light photo enforcement services provided to multiple cities; trial court judgment in favor of our client affirmed by the California Supreme Court
• Counsel for an international Big 6 accounting firm charged with RICO and unfair competition in class actions brought by putative classes of all depositors worldwide of a failed international financial institution; federal court’s dismissal of plaintiffs’ claims upheld on appeal

Intellectual Property

• Lead trial counsel in federal court jury trial in which our client, the inventor of a computer-controlled artificial respirator, obtained a multimillion-dollar trial court award against a medical device manufacturer for patent infringement and willful patent infringement
• Lead counsel representing a leading consumer electronics firm in disputes over DVD copyright protection technology, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Internet law.  Also represented the company as lead counsel in multiple business disputes in state and federal courts and in connection with foreign adversarial proceedings
• Lead counsel for an aircraft cargo systems manufacturer in successfully pursuing patent infringement claims against an aircraft parts supplier
• Trial counsel in trade secret and contract case for a developer of interactive television programming guides and computer software in which our client obtained a multimillion-dollar arbitration award
• Counsel for a leading computer manufacturer defending against business and technology claims brought by a start-up microprocessor developer for alleged breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and misrepresentation
• Counsel in various cases for a large computer/technology OEM defending against patent infringement claims relating to encryption technology for personal computers and to disk drive technologies
• Trial counsel for a leading manufacturer of MOSFETs and other semiconductors in a federal court bench trial in connection with a complex patent licensing action

Other

• Lead trial counsel representing an insurance company prevailing in a series of state and federal court proceedings and five-week arbitration involving the ownership and lease of a Los Angeles high-rise office building
• Lead trial counsel in multiple jury and bench trials serving as Deputy City Prosecutor prosecuting criminal defendants
• Trial Advocacy Instructor, National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA)
• Argued appeals before the U.S. Ninth Circuit and Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal, and various California state appellate courts

Professional Activities

Admitted to Practice,  U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth and Federal Circuits; U.S. District Court, Central, Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of California
Chair,  The Antitrust Litigation Forum (www.AntitrustLitigationForum.com)
Vice Chair - Unfair Competition Law, and Member, Executive Committee of the California State Bar Antitrust & Unfair Competition Law Section
Co-Chair (former),  Trade Secrets Subcommittee of the American Bar Association (ABA) Litigation Section’s Intellectual Property Committee
Member,  ABA Antitrust & Intellectual Property Law Sections; Los Angeles County Bar Association; Irish American Bar Association
Co-Author (selected publications, 2009-2012): "Updating Upjohn and Akzo: Practical Suggestions for Preserving Privileges in the U.S., California and Europe," 2012 ABA International Cartel Workshop (submitted January 2012); "Intellectual Property and Antitrust: Getting the Deal Through," USA Chapter (2012); "The Impact of Wal-Mart v. Dukes on Antitrust Class Action Defense," ABA Antitrust Business Torts & Civil RICO Committee (August 2011); "Promoting Competition and Standards: The D.C. Divide," for ABA Antitrust Section's Fall Forum (October 2010); "The Capper-Volstead Act Exemption and Supply Restraints in Agricultural Antitrust Actions," Competition:  The Journal of the Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section of the State Bar of California, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 69 et seq. (Fall 2010); "The FTAIA In State Court - A Defense Perspective," Competition Law 360 (February 24, 2010); "Ashcroft v. Iqbal: The Sleeper 2009 Supreme Court Decision For Patent Litigators?," Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal, Vol. 21, No. 12 (December 2009); "Indirect Purchaser Standing in Federal Courts:  Take 2," Competition Law 360 (October 12, 2009); "California Intellectual Property Law Developments," California Litigation Review (October 2010, October 2009)
Guest Lecturer,  "International Cartel Enforcement:  Recent Trends & Practical Effects," Loyola Law School, International Antitrust Course (March 2010, March 2011)
Speaker (selected engagements and panels, 2009-2012): Panel Leader/Panelist on "Internal Investigations," 2012 ABA International Cartel Workshop (Vancouver, B.C., February 2012) (invited); "Cultural Complexities in Cross Border Cases," California State Bar Convention (Long Beach, September 2011); "Ethics and Confidential Communications:  Akzo Nobel and its Global Ramifications," ABA International Section's Spring Meeting (Wash. DC, April 2011); "The Capper-Volstead Act Exemption and Supply Restraints in Agricultural Antitrust Actions," New York State Bar Antitrust Section Executive Committee (New York, February 2011); "Current Trends in State and Federal Antitrust Civil Enforcement, " ABA Antitrust Section's Fall Forum (Washington DC, November 2010); "Settlement Issues in Complex Antitrust & Unfair Competition Class Actions," 20th Annual Golden State Antitrust & Unfair Competition Law Institute, California State Bar (San Francisco, California, October 2010); “The Potential Impact of Dukes v. Walmart on Class Certification in Antitrust and UCL Cases in the Ninth Circuit,” California State Bar Antitrust & Unfair Competition Section Brown Bag Seminar (July 2010); “Antitrust Laws & Lessons from Standard Setting Organizations,” International Seminar on Anti-Monopoly Issues in the Industry of New and High Technology, China’s Ministry of Industry & Information Technology (MIIT) (Beijing, PRC, June 2010); “When Parallel Paths Collide:  The Intersection of Criminal Antitrust Enforcement and Civil Litigation -Trends, Tactics and Tensions,” Los Angeles County Bar Association, Antitrust Section (Los Angeles, April 2010); "Cross-Border Certification of Antitrust Class Actions in the U.S. and Canada," Canada - U.S. Cross-Border Litigation Forum, Cambridge International Forums (Toronto, Canada, March 2010); "Dealing with the Rising Tide of Criminal Enforcement," Antitrust 2010:  New Administrations, New Cases & New Economic Realities in Global Markets, Cornerstone Research Conference (Los Angeles, March 2010); "International Antitrust Litigation:  Civil & Criminal Developments," 19th Annual Golden State Antitrust & Unfair Competition Law Institute, California State Bar, Antitrust & Unfair Competition Law Section (San Francisco, October 2009)