Ashok Ramani

Ashok Ramani has a 26-year tenure specializing in IP law. He was drawn to the field in the late 1990s by the burgeoning tech industry and its significant impact on the U.S. and global economies.

"At the same time, I knew I wanted to become a trial lawyer; I liked being someone's champion and standing up for them in court," Ramani said. "Fewer civil cases were being tried even then, but IP cases, particularly patent and trade secret cases, were the rare, major civil cases still going to trial."

Over the years, he's had a string of influential mentors.

"Four that stand out to me in particular are John Keker, Bob Van Nest, Jeff Chanin and Jon Streeter, who were partners at the firm where I started my career," Raman said. "I worked under these brilliant lawyers for many years, learning how to try cases, manage teams and treat clients well."

Ramani's lead trial counsel experience was exemplified by his work for Comcast in a patent litigation case initiated by WhereverTV.

In 2018, WhereverTV accused Comcast of patent infringement related to the integration of over-the-top apps onto Comcast's X1 platform, seeking $177 million in damages.

However, in a dramatic turn of events on April 26, 2023, Judge William Jung of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted a judgment as a matter of law of no infringement for Comcast, moments before closing arguments.

"This appears to be only the second time any judge has granted such a motion," Ramani said.

He added that one of the biggest obstacles in the case Comcast Cable Communications LLC was that in the U.S., people tend to root for the underdog.

"And in this case, WhereverTV was a small company going up against a large and well-known corporation," Ramani said. "Another obstacle was that the subject matter at hand was incredibly technical, and there can be a tendency to lose sight of the merits. I and our terrific trial team needed to keep the jury's attention on the important themes of the case and resist getting bogged down in the technical details."

In another notable case, Ramani served as lead counsel for Pfizer in a trade-secret and breach-of-contract action against two former executives.

The defendants were accused of misappropriating trade secrets to establish a competing pharmaceutical startup in China. Through diligent document discovery and early depositions, Ramani strengthened Pfizer's position, ultimately leading to a settlement in July 2023 that was highly favorable to the client.