Kerri-Ann Limbeek

Kerri-Ann Limbeek is a first-chair trial lawyer who focuses on complex technology disputes, including patent infringement cases.  Ms. Limbeek represents both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of industries, including pharmaceuticals, medical and surgical devices, consumer products, semiconductor fabrication, computer hardware, software, telecommunications, and video streaming technology.  Ms. Limbeek has extensive experience in all stages of litigation, including before the International Trade Commission, U.S. District Courts, and U.S. Courts of Appeals.  She has also represented clients in arbitration proceedings, including before the International Chamber of Commerce.
 
Ms. Limbeek has been recognized by several leading publications for her trial skills and recent success.  For example, in 2023, Law360 recognized Ms. Limbeek as a Rising Star—one of the country's top trial lawyers under the age of 40.  Desmarais LLP was also awarded Law360 IP Practice Group of the Year in 2023 based, in part, on Ms. Limbeek’s $272.5 million jury verdict on behalf of the biotech firm Ravgen against LabCorp.  In January 2024, the American Lawyer honored Ms. Limbeek as “Litigator of the Week” for winning a $57 million verdict for Ravgen against Natera, as lead trial counsel. [Read The American Lawyer story]  Law360 also recognized Desmarais LLP in "Law360's Legal Lions of the Week" for Ms. Limbeek’s victory on behalf of Ravgen against Natera.  And Ms. Limbeek won the New York Law Journal Rising Star award in 2024, and the 2025 Life Sciences Patent Network (LSPN) Awards honored Ms. Limbeek as Rising Star of the Year, and awarded her $57 million jury verdict for Ravgen against Natera as Impact Case of the Year.

Ms. Limbeek has notched trial victories for both plaintiffs and defendants.  Ms. Limbeek led a patent litigation campaign on behalf of biotech company, Ravgen, that included trial wins against Natera LabCorp and Natera and the successful defense of Ravgen’s patents across ten inter partes review proceedings.  In January 2024, as lead trial counsel, Ms. Limbeek won a $57 million damages verdict for Ravgen against Natera.  At trial, Ms. Limbeek handled both opening and closing, in addition to cross-examining Natera’s engineer who developed the accused product and its main technical expert.  In September 2022, Ms. Limbeek secured a $272.5 million jury verdict and an additional $100 million in enhanced damages based on the jury’s finding of willful infringement for a total of $372.5 million for Ravgen against testing giant LabCorp.  Ms. Limbeek tried the case as co-lead counsel with John Desmarais. At trial, Ms. Limbeek examined Ravgen’s technical expert and cross-examined LabCorp’s technical expert.  Ms. Limbeek also represented Ravgen in six other district court cases, achieving settlements with Myriad, Illumina, Quest Diagnostics, PerkinElmer, Roche and Biora.

Ms. Limbeek and her team also won a clean sweep against ten inter partes review (IPR) challenges to Ravgen’s patents, which included defeating two IPR petitions filed by Quest at the institution phase as well as obtaining final written decisions in instituted IPR proceedings brought by LabCorp, Illumina, and Streck that upheld the validity of every challenged claim.  The team also handled the appeals of three of the IPR decisions, and the Federal Circuit affirmed Ravgen’s win in each of those three cases.

On the defense side, in May 2026, Ms. Limbeek co-led the complete defense verdict for Abiomed, a J&J subsidiary, in Maquet Cardiovascular LLC v. Abiomed Inc., a case pending since 2017, passed through three firms including Cravath, and twice before the Federal Circuit. She presented the technical case and led the damages defense, including key expert directs and crosses. The result was especially significant: Abiomed conceded the accused products met the asserted claim limitations yet prevailed under the reverse doctrine of equivalents while also winning invalidity under section 112.

In September 2024, Ms. Limbeek successfully defended a consumer electronics company defendant at trial in a patent infringement suit related to encryption technology.  The team achieved a complete defense verdict of non-infringement after a one-week jury trial in Austin, Texas putting an end to the plaintiff’s claim of $361 million in damages.  Ms. Limbeek handled the damages portion of the case.  She successfully excluded all the plaintiff’s original damages theories under Daubert.  At trial, Ms. Limbeek examined the defendant’s damages expert and cross-examined plaintiff’s technical and damages experts. 

In October 2024, Ms. Limbeek represented a consumer electronics company plaintiff in its successful jury trial in Wilmington, DE. The defendant was found to willfully infringe two design patents relating to smartwatches and their chargers.

Ms. Limbeek has also represented clients in state and federal district courts on a pro bono basis, including recently achieving victories in New York Family Court and Immigration Court for a young Ecuadorian immigrant fleeing religious violence in her country.  After an evidentiary hearing conducted by Ms. Limbeek, the Court in that case granted Ms. Limbeek’s client’s petition for guardianship and issued an order with the requisite special findings for the client to apply for special immigrant juvenile status.  Ms. Limbeek then won an order in immigration court that fully stopped removal proceedings against her client and will allow the pro bono client to stay in the U.S. with her father going forward.  Outside of her work at Desmarais LLP, Ms. Limbeek also acts as a mentor through a legal outreach program. 

Before joining Desmarais LLP, Ms. Limbeek was an associate in the Litigation Group in the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.   While at Sullivan & Cromwell, Ms. Limbeek focused on patent cases, including representing a medical device company in defending infringement claims at a trial before the International Trade Commission.

Prior Experience 

• Associate, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, New York, New York, 2013-2015

Courts

• United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
• United States Court Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• United States Court Appeals for the Fourth Circuit