Ali S. Razai

Partner

Orange County

949-760-0404

ali.razai@knobbe.com

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Overview

Experience

Recognition

Resources

Ali S. Razai is a distinguished litigator with an extensive track record of success in high-stakes situations across all facets of IP law.

Lauded by clients as a practical problem solver and trusted counselor, Mr. Razai excels at understanding the business and legal challenges clients are facing—and putting together the strategies to solve them.

The recipient of numerous industry awards and distinctions, Mr. Razai has cultivated a well-earned reputation for helping clients achieve business-critical successes in a wide array of issues. Clients trust him to handle cases involving utility patents, design patents, trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, trade secrets, false advertising, unfair competition and breach of contract. Mr. Razai has successfully litigated cases through resolution in federal district courts around the country, inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeals Board, arbitration, and federal appeals courts.

Mr. Razai works with clients in a broad range of sectors and industries, from biotechnology and medical devices to pharmaceuticals, mechanical devices, green technology, consumer products and more. Examples of clients he has represented include lululemon, simplehuman, HydraFacial, Jacuzzi Brands, InBrace, Spectrum Solutions, and Ligand Pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Razai was also seconded for a time to serve as interim in-house patent counsel at large, international company. This experience provided Mr. Razai insight into the internal dynamics and pressures that clients face, allowing him to better craft strategies and solutions that are tailored to each specific situation.

Mr. Razai currently serves on Knobbe Martens’ executive committee, and has held other leadership roles at the firm.

Prior to joining Knobbe Martens, Mr. Razai was a research associate at the UCLA AIDS Institute studying the effect of the HIV virus on cytokine expression. After achieving a master’s degree in public health from Berkeley in 2001, he went to UCSF, where he focused his research on the development of therapeutic antibodies against the neurotoxin produced by the bio-terror agent C. botulinum. Mr. Razai's work at UCSF resulted in multiple royalty-bearing patents for a cure to botulism.

Education

University of California - Hastings - School of Law (J.D., 2006)

University of California - Berkeley (CAL) (M.P.H. Infectious Diseases, 2001)

University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) (B.S. Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, 1998)

University of California - Hastings - School of Law

University of California - Berkeley (CAL)

University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA)

State Bar of California

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

AgBio

Biotechnology

Chemical

Fashion & Beauty

Media & Entertainment

Medical Devices & Procedures

Pharmaceuticals

Sporting Goods & Recreation

Practice Areas

Domain Name & Website Content Disputes

Consumer Products Litigation

Trademarks & Brand Protection

Patent Prosecution

PTAB Ex Parte Patent Proceedings

IP Strategy

Due Diligence

Opinions & Counseling

IP Transactions & Agreements

Hatch-Waxman Litigation

Medical Device Litigation

Trade Secret & Employment Mobility Litigation

Trademark & Brand Protection Litigation

Patents

PTAB IPR & Post-Grant Proceedings

Aliign Activation Wear, LLC v. lululemon athletica Canada Inc. and lululemon USA Inc (Case 2:20-cv-03339-SVW-JEM) (C.D. Cal)

Led the Knobbe team that successfully defended lululemon in trademark infringement suit filed in connection with lululemon’s ALIGN yoga product collection. Obtained summary judgment for no infringement, including no forward confusion, reverse confusion or initial interest confusion between the parties’ products, which avoided the plaintiff’s damages claims exceeding several hundred million dollars.

Metamorfoza, D.O.O. v. Big Funny LLC, et al. (2021)

Led the Knobbe team that defended Big Funny against allegation of trademark infringement. Each of the plaintiff and defendant operate museums around the world under the mark MUSEUM OF ILLUSIONS. Metamorfoza brought an action in the Southern District of New York alleging that Big Funny’s use of the name “Museum of Illusions” at its museums in Los Angeles and Miami infringe the plaintiff’s trademark rights. The Knobbe team successfully transferred the case to Big Funny’s chosen forum, the Central District of California. In the Central District of California, the court granted Big Funny’s motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), without allowing the plaintiff leave to amend.

BlenderBottle – Ongoing Enforcement

BlenderBottle revolutionized the way supplements are mixed and consumed. BlenderBottle’s shaker bottles for mixing supplements and liquid have become the go-to products for outdoor enthusiasts, gym goers, serious protein drinkers, and more. Led by Ali Razai, the Knobbe team has developed a successful patent and trade dress enforcement strategy and program for BlenderBottle. Knobbe Martens has represented BlenderBottle in numerous enforcement matters including in the U.S., E.U., and Russia. The Knobbe team has also filed several patent and trade dress infringement lawsuits on behalf of BlenderBottle.

CyDex Pharm v. Alembic et al. (2021)

Helped lead the Knobbe team that represented CyDex in the ANDA litigation. CyDex, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ligand Pharmaceuticals, develops, manufactures, and sells specialized cyclodextrins, which are used to optimize the solubility, stability, and bioavailability of various active agents in the pharmaceutical industry. For example, CyDex’s proprietary cyclodextrin, called CAPTISOL®, is the solubilizing agent used in Gilead’s REMDESEVIR® product for the treatments of COVID-19. Defendant Alembic sought FDA approval to market a generic version of the multiple myeloma drug MELPHALAN®. filed suit on behalf of CyDex in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware alleging infringement of three of CyDex’s patents protecting CAPTISOL®. At claim construction, the district court found in favor of CyDex on all disputed terms. After extensive litigation, the parties reached a settlement whereby Alembic agreed to a consent judgment that the patents were infringed, thus preventing generic entry.

simplehuman, LLC v. iTouchless Housewares and Products, Inc. (N.D. Cal.) (2021)

Led a Knobbe team that successfully enforced simplehuman’s patent and trademark rights. Shortly after simplehuman filed a motion for partial summary judgment of infringement of the design patents-in-suit. While the motion was pending, the team negotiated a favorable settlement through mediation.

Benebone LLC v. Pet Qwerks, Inc. and Doskocil Manufacturing d/b/a Petmate (C.D. Cal.) (2021)

Led the Knobbe team that took over this design patent and trade dress case and successfully settled it on behalf of Defendants Pet Qwerks and Petmate before the close of fact discovery. Pet Qwerks was in the middle of being acquired when a competitor, Benebone, filed suit alleging that Pet Qwerks’ line of dog chew toys infringe Benebone’s design patents and trade dress. Pet Qwerks initially hired other counsel to defend it, but given the litigation’s potential impact the acquisition, Pet Qwerks and Petmate turned to Knobbe Martens to take over the case. Knobbe quickly won two important discovery motions, one requiring Benebone to produce its Slack messages which it had been withholding and another requiring a third-party inventor to produce the emails he had been withholding. Shortly after Pet Qwerks won the discovery motions, Benebone requested that the parties enter into mediation. Knobbe Martens successfully settled the case during mediation.

simplehuman, LLC v. iTouchless Housewares and Products, Inc., (C.D. Cal.) (2020)

Led the Knobbe team that successfully represented simplehuman through a very hard-fought litigation against iTouchless. After the conclusion of expert discovery, the team obtained a favorable settlement for simplehuman.

Carson Cheng, et al. v. AIM Sports, Inc., et al. (C.D. Cal.)

Obtained favorable settlement for our clients, including a consent judgment and permanent injunction and confidential settlement representing claims for past damages under six design patents and one utility patent owned by our clients. The settlement was achieved after we defeated defendants’ motions for summary judgment and obtained a court order barring defendants from challenging our expert’s multi-million dollar damages opinion at trial.

I-Flow Corp. v. Apex Med. Tech., Inc.(S.D. Cal.)

Obtained a $12.4 million verdict and injunctive relief after jury trial for our client I-Flow Corp.

Awards & Honors

Recognized as a Patent Star and Trademark Star in Managing IP's "IP Stars" Guide for his outstanding intellectual property legal work (2023)
Named a “Leading Litigator – IP Litigation” in the 2023-2024 edition of Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Litigators in America” guide
Recognized by The Legal 500 "United States" for Patent Litigation (2021 - 2023) and Trademark Litigation (2022 - 2023)
Named a "Life Science Star" for Patent Litigation in the Legal Media Group's (LMG) "LMG Life Sciences" Guide (2022 - 2023)
Recognized in the World Trademark Review (WTR) 1000 as a "Leading Trademark Lawyer" (2020 - 2023). In 2023, he was recognized as someone who “is in his element handling high-stakes litigations under fast schedules requiring aggressive tactics.” The 2022 guide celebrated Razai as a "powerfully effective litigator", who is "great at mediation, strategically smart and well-recognized at running large and small cases." In the 2021 guide, he was described as a "seasoned" and "winning" litigator through all phases, as well as a "backbone of the litigation practice." In the 2020 guide, he was described as a client as "proactive in getting to know your business well before the first case arises...he knows his way around the courtroom and understands the personalities of the neutrals well".
Named a 2015 and 2016 "Southern California Rising Star" by Super Lawyers magazine for his work in intellectual property litigation
Recognized in the Los Angeles magazine as one of Southern California's "Rising Stars" in a survey of his peers (2015).

Articles

Razai A, et. al., Molecular Evolution Of Antibody Affinity For Sensitive Detection Of Botulinum Neurotoxin Type A. J Mol Biol. 2005 Aug 5;351(1):158-69.

Koka PS, Brooks DG, Razai A, Kitchen CM, Zack JA., HIV Type 1 Infection Alters Cytokine mRNA Expression In Thymus. AIDS Res. & Hum. Retroviruses. 2003 Jan 1;19(1):1-12.

PMID: 12581511 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

Speeches & Seminars

Bayside Chat – IP Issues and Trends in a Pandemic and (Eventually) Post-Pandemic World, ACC DoubleHeader (October 2021)

Panelist, "Defensive Litigation Strategy," Orange County IP Strategy Summit (2016).

Speaker, "Enforcing Your Design Patents," IP Impact - Silicon Valley (2014).

Speaker, "Intellectual Property Enforcement," OCBA - Corporate Counsel Section (2014).

Speaker, "Intellectual Property Law Primer," Iranian American Bar Association (2009).