Hari Santhanam is a partner in the intellectual property group in Kirkland’s Chicago office. His practice covers the range of intellectual property matters, including copyright and trademark matters and with a focus on patent litigation, leveraging his strong technical background in the biological, chemical, and electrical arts.
Hari is a trial lawyer with extensive experience managing all aspects of patent litigation from the pre-filing stage though fact and expert discovery, summary judgment, and trial. Hari also has substantial experience in appellate matters from the filing of a notice of appeal to briefing and arguing the appeal and (if necessary) preparing a successful petition for a writ of certiorari.
Outside of litigation, Hari advises clients on intellectual property matters, including freedom to operate, portfolio development and management, and corporate transactions. He is also a registered patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and has handled numerous patent reexaminations, inter partes reviews, and other post-grant proceedings.
Hari further maintains an active pro bono practice that includes criminal and immigration appeals. In Abdraman v. Lynch, Hari obtained asylum relief for a Chadian national who fled to the United States after his family members were arrested and disappeared by government forces. Hari successfully argued the asylum appeal before the Seventh Circuit, and the immigration court ultimately granted asylum on remand. Hari was also lead counsel in Turner v. United States, a criminal appeal before the Seventh Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court addressing a defendant’s right under the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause to cross-examine a forensic analyst whose findings and conclusions were introduced at trial through a surrogate expert.