Nikhil Rama Krishnan

Nikhil R. Krishnan — Patent Litigation Practice Summary

Specialty / focus areas. Krishnan is an IP litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP (Chicago), concentrating on patent and trade secret litigation in federal district courts, the ITC, and the PTAB. His firm bio emphasizes his electrical engineering/computer science background, and his matters span semiconductor chip design, networking, online advertising, e-commerce, enterprise software, video conferencing, and biopharmaceutical production — with a recent concentration in live-video streaming and sports-data overlay technology (Genius Sports/SportsCastr) and audio-device patents (Staton Techiya/Samsung). All technology descriptions above come from his Kirkland profile and court filings, not the tracked case list.

Side preference. The authoritative tracked case list shows a single appearance — for plaintiff Genius Sports Ltd. in Genius Sports Ltd. v. SportsCastr Inc., as backup counsel — but that list is not representative of his broader, web-verified practice. Public dockets show most of his career work has been defending operating companies against patent assertions: PayPal (In re PersonalWeb MDL, N.D. Cal.), Google (Impact Engine v. Google, S.D. Cal.), Samsung (Staton Techiya v. Samsung, E.D. Tex., plus related IPRs), and Intel (MOSAID v. Intel, D. Ore.). He also serves as petitioner-side counsel in IPRs, so he works both sides, with a defendant-side center of gravity.

Notable cases / outcomes. In the tracked matter, Krishnan was part of the Kirkland team that petitioned for IPR on behalf of Genius Sports against SportsCastr (IPR2024-01305, -01307 through -01311), argued the consolidated PTAB hearing on December 18, 2025, and obtained a Final Written Decision (March 11, 2026) finding all challenged claims of the '687 patent unpatentable. He was also admitted pro hac vice in the related Genius Sports SS, LLC v. SportsCastr Inc., No. 1:26-cv-03900 (S.D.N.Y.), filed May 2026. No trial verdicts or Federal Circuit appeals were verified in public sources.

PTAB / IPR experience. Yes — he appears regularly in IPR proceedings, including the six consolidated Genius Sports IPRs, Samsung's IPRs against Staton Techiya patents (IPR2022-01106; IPR2024-01034 stipulation letters), and petitioner work for Samsung/Intel in related validity challenges.

Bar / education. Admitted in California (2014) and Illinois (2016); registered before the USPTO (Reg. No. 68,879, registered as an agent in 2011). B.S. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, UC Berkeley (2009); J.D. with Honors, University of Chicago Law School (2014). Recognized in Best Lawyers "Ones to Watch" (Litigation – IP and Litigation – Patent, 2026). No pre-Kirkland firms were identified in public sources; his career appears to have been spent at Kirkland.