Navin Ramalingam

Navin is an Associate Attorney in the Intellectual Property and Technology Litigation Group at Robins Kaplan LLP. He helps inventors, entrepreneurs, businesses, and IP owners protect and monetize their intellectual property. He combines a lifelong passion for technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship, with a strong business acumen to solve complex legal problems for clients in the most efficient manner possible. Using his distinctive professional experience and strong work ethic, Navin is able to break down intricate legal issues and communicate solutions effectively to a wide array of audiences.

Navin's practice includes patent litigation; trademark selection, clearance, prosecution, maintenance, registration, licensing, enforcement, and litigation; and copyright litigation and diligence. He advises clients on product/project development, copyright and trademark strategy, brand development, advertising, licensing, and IP monetization. Navin has represented clients in federal courts, state courts, and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. His technology dispute experiences span a wide range of technological fields, including software, machine learning, image processing, display devices, cellular phone technology, computing systems, rail safety, and mechanical devices.

Navin is a 2021 graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School where he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality (Vol. 39), a Student Director at the Consumer Protection Clinic, and a member of the McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition Team. He also participated in National Moot Court and Mock Trial, and provided over 50 hours of pro bono legal service. Before law school, Navin was a Management Consultant at Deloitte and Ernst & Young for over six years solving clients’ problems in the financial regulations and compliance industry, and a Software Developer for three years. Navin has a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelors in Information Technology.

Navin was born and raised in the Great State of Tamil Nadu in southern India. He has lived in Chennai, Cincinnati and Chicago, and has extensively traveled the continental United States. During his free time, Navin likes to explore the Minnesota outdoors with his wife and two pups; read magical realism or historical fiction books; brush up his Deutsch; and ride his 2021 Royal Enfield Meteor 350.

Education

• University of Minnesota Law School (2021)
• Editor-in-Chief, Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality (Vol. 39) (2020–2021)
• Student Director, Consumer Protection Clinic (2020–2021)
• University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business, Master of Science, Information Systems (2012)
• Vellore Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Technology, Information Technology (2008)

Languages

Representative Matters

Represented Expensify, Inc., an expense management system software provider, in successful trademark suits, including district court litigation and TTAB Cancellation proceedings.

Part of the team that represented the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in a patent infringement action against Eli Lilly, BMS, and ImClone related to the manufacture and sale of Erbitux. Penn asserted US Patent No. 7,625,558 related to treatment of certain cancers using antibodies to erbB receptors followed by radiation therapy. The case was resolved on confidential terms. The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania v. Eli Lilly and Company, et al., No. 15-6133 (E.D. Pa.).

Part of the team that represented Holla d/b/a EXU (HK) Ltd. before the TTAB in successfully opposing trademark registration against iHola!

Part of the team that represented leading provider of direct marketing services in action against former executives and their new employer alleging misappropriation of trade secrets, breaches of contract and breaches of duties of loyalty. Case settled on confidential terms after hearing on cross-motions for summary judgment. IWCO Direct Holdings Inc. v. Nahan Printing, Inc.  

Part of the team that represented Mous Products—maker of premium phone covers who had their products de-listed on Amazon—in reinstating their products without even going through the Amazon Patent Neutral Evaluation proceedings. In Mous Products, Ltd. v BelAir Electronics, Inc.

Part of the team that represented Dr. Richard Tholen, a top Twin Cities plastic surgeon who endured an amputated leg after Assist America refused to evacuate him for proper medical care, in Tholen v. Assist America, wherein a federal jury in Minnesota awarded Dr. Tholen a $27.8 million verdict, including $10 million in punitive damages.

• Named to "Top Lawyers List," Minnesota Monthly (2023-2024)
• Named a “North Star Lawyer” by the Minnesota State Bar Association for providing at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services (2022-2023)
• Class of 2021 Most Outstanding Contribution Award
• 2021 Minnesota Law Equity & Diversity Award
• 2021 McGee Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Moot Court Competition Finalist and Best Respondent Brief Winner
• 2018 Dorothy O. Lareau Legal Writing Best Brief Award for Section 64

Civic

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities, Mentor (2019)
• HOME Line, Tenant Advocate (2019)
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago, Mentor (2017–2018)

Professional

• International Trademark Association
• American Association for Justice
• American Intellectual Property Law Association
• American Constitution Society Minneapolis-St. Paul Lawyer Chapter, At-Large Board Member (2023)
• Minnesota State Bar Association; Artificial Intelligence Committee, Voting Member (2024)
• Minnesota State Bar Association; Unauthorized Practice of Law and Artificial Intelligence Working Group Member (2023)
• Minnesota State Bar Association; New Lawyers Section DEI Committee, Council Member (2022; 2023)
• Federal Bar Association
• Hennepin County Bar Association
• Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association; Executive Board, Treasurer (2025); Vice President of Membership (2024)
• National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
• The Honorable Jimmie V. Reyna Intellectual Property American Inn of Court (AIC), Executive Board, Membership Chair (2024)
• The Linn Inn Alliance of the American Inns of Court (AIC), Advisory Council Members (2024)

Speeches

• Justice for All: Minnesota's Civil Legal Aid and Pro Bono Landscape
  University of Minnesota Law School CLE, Minneapolis, Minnesota (October 22, 2024)
• Trademark Basics
  Intellectual Property in Practice, University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, Minnesota (September 18, 2024)
• The Present and Future of DEI - A Law Student and New Lawyer Perspective
  HCBA & RCBA 2024 Race & Equity Series, Webinar (May 20, 2024)
• Trademark Annual Case Law Review
  INTA North America Roundtable, Minneapolis, Minnesota (February 22, 2024)
• Ask Me Anything: Trademarks
  Springboard for The Arts, St. Paul, Minnesota (January 22, 2024)
• Insights Into the Patent Process
  The Outer Periphery Book Release Party, Center for Performing Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota (October 21, 2023)

Articles

• "Litigation Perspective: Strategies for Licensing Software that Leverages Artificial Intelligence," IPWatchdog (July 12, 2024)
• "Implications of Large Language Models (LLMs) on the Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) and Access to Justice," Minnesota State Bar Association (June 20, 2024)
• "Warzone clash: When does a video game title cross the line into trademark infringement?," Los Angeles Daily Journal (May 17, 2024)
• "Data Shows Most SEP Holders Send Pre-suit Demand Letters – For Good Reason," IAM (November 28, 2023)