Rajkumar (“Kumar”) Vinnakota’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation in both federal and state courts, and various administrative agencies, including intellectual property, trade secrets, energy, business torts, partnership disputes, and insurance matters.

Experience

Kumar’s intellectual property practice focuses on managing, licensing, and enforcing patent portfolios, and representing and defending domestic and international clients and research institutes, with an emphasis in the oil & gas, chemical, petrochemical, biochemical, biomaterial, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, semiconductor, and electronic industries. Kumar’s practice also focuses on helping technology and start-up companies navigate the complex legal environment to protect their valuable intellectual property and achieve commercial success.

Kumar’s technical background includes work experience as a process engineer at ExxonMobil Chemical and chemical plant design studies at Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) in Houston, Texas. Prior to joining Cole Schotz, P.C., Kumar was a Founding Partner at an intellectual property litigation boutique in Dallas, Texas. He previously worked as an Associate in the Dallas office of Andrews Kurth LLP.

Kumar’s representative cases include:

Patent Defense Litigation

• Defended multiple defendants in multi-patent infringement action involving call and contact center technologies and telephony systems.
• Defended automaker Nissan in consolidated multi-patent infringement action involving the interfaces of external devices to car audio environments.

Patent Enforcement Litigation

• Represented a gas leak detection company in a multi-patent-infringement action involving infrared camera technology to detect fugitive gas emissions.
• Represented a fluorescent ballast manufacturer in multi-patent infringement action involving electronic CFL ballasts technologies. Successfully drafted and argued Markman proceedings and prevailed on all disputed claim terms. Also successfully drafted opposition to invalidity and non-infringement summary judgment motions.

Patent Enforcement Litigation for Research Institutes

• Represented a research institute in patent infringement action involving technologies covering manufacturing processes of enzymatic nixtamalization of corn kernels.
• Represented national Taiwanese research institute in multi-patent infringement action involving numerous consumer related product lines.

Other Complex Commercial or Administrative Agency Litigation

• Representing an information technology company in a complex shareholder dispute in Delaware Chancery Court and Federal Court.
• Represented a fluorescent ballast manufacturer in complex commercial litigation involving various business torts and counterclaims of trade secret and Lanham Act violations.

Patent Post-Grant Proceedings

• Represented Patent Owner in various consolidated Inter Partes Review proceedings with multi-patent actions involving infrared camera technology to detect fugitive gas emissions. Admitted pro hac vice as back-up counsel.

Appeals Before Federal Appellate Courts

• Represented Appellant in appeal from Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Final Written Decisions from various Inter Partes Reviews.

Honors & Awards

Kumar has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer in the areas of intellectual property litigation from 2015 – 2023. Kumar also serves on the Executive Committee and is a Master of the Bench for the Honorable Barbara M.G. Lynn American Inn of Court in the Northern District of Texas.

See Award Methodology.