Karl J. Kramer

Specialty / focus. Karl J. Kramer is a Palo Alto–based patent litigator whose practice centers on complex commercial litigation and trials, with an emphasis on intellectual property disputes, patent litigation, and licensing negotiations for high-technology clients (per his firm biography in Apple's attorney-fee submissions in Apple v. Samsung). The public record in his matters points to consumer electronics and digital multimedia rather than pharma or life sciences: he led Morrison & Foerster's representation of Funai in an International Trade Commission Section 337 action against Vizio over HDTV patents, and his name appears in the PTAB record of Samsung Electronics v. TiVo Inc. (IPR2016-01555), involving DVR/multimedia signal-processing patents. His tracked case data shows a single appearance, on the defendant side, while at Morrison & Foerster as Of Counsel; his reported ITC work, by contrast, was on behalf of a patent owner/complainant (Funai), so he appears to have experience on both enforcement and defense sides, with the tracked data skewing defense.

Firm context and notable matters. Kramer has spent his patent litigation career at Morrison & Foerster, where current profile data lists him as Of Counsel in the firm's Palo Alto office (earlier public records, circa 2009–2016, describe him as a partner there; his biography also appears in Morrison & Foerster's fee submissions for Apple's trial team in Apple v. Samsung). His most publicly prominent result is the ITC exclusion ruling barring Vizio from importing high-definition televisions found to infringe Funai's patents (circa 2009), a matter where he served as lead lawyer for Funai and which Vizio announced it would appeal. The sole tracked appearance is an unnamed defendant-side matter at MoFo; no verdict or settlement terms in that matter are verifiable from public sources, and no prior-firm history was identified in available records (other MoFo attorneys with similar names, such as Karin Kramer at Quinn Emanuel, are distinct individuals).

PTAB / IPR experience. Kramer's PTAB footprint is limited: he appears as counsel of record on the docket of IPR2016-01555 (Samsung v. TiVo), which was dismissed by joint motion and settled before institution in January 2017. That single settled proceeding does not indicate a regular IPR/PGR practice.

Bar / education. J.D., University of Wisconsin Law School (1987); B.A., Lawrence University (1982); admitted in Wisconsin (1987), Illinois (1987), and California (1988) per Martindale-Hubbell.