Karen L. Younkins

Litigation Attorney

Karen is a partner on Varnum’s Litigation and ADR Practice Team and a nationally recognized intellectual property and technology litigator whose career spans high-stakes patent, trade secret, and technology disputes for major national and global companies. She represents clients in state and federal courts, before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and before the Federal Circuit. Karen also advises clients on patent prosecution, licensing, intellectual property strategy, and risk management.

Karen has represented clients including Amazon, Starbucks, Pfizer, Oracle, Medtronic, Stryker, and Peloton. Her matters have involved technologies and industries including software, medical devices, biotechnology, automotive technology, robotics, consumer electronics, and consumer products. She works closely with business teams, in-house counsel, inventors, and technical experts to understand the technology at issue, assess legal risks, and develop strategies aligned with each matter.

Before joining Varnum, Karen practiced at Hueston Hennigan, where she handled high-stakes patent and trade secret litigation. She previously served as director of client relations at RPX Corporation, advising companies on intellectual property risk and patent strategy. Earlier in her career, she practiced patent litigation at Kirkland & Ellis, served as in-house intellectual property counsel at an electric vehicle company, and worked as a patent examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Karen earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, where she served as a global teaching fellow and studied at the World Intellectual Property Organization and World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College, with a double major in physics and astronomy, and mathematics.

Karen is admitted in California and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Her admission to the State Bar of Michigan is currently pending.

Experience

• Inari Medical, Inc. and Stryker Corporation v. Inquis Medical, Inc. (D. Del.) (2024–2026): Represented Inari Medical and Stryker in a patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation case involving treatment for venous thromboembolism. Handled critical depositions including inventors and technical experts, and argued at the Markman hearing.
• Moskowitz Family LLC v. Medtronic, Inc. et al. (D. Minn. and PTAB) (2025–present): Represents Medtronic in a patent infringement suit involving spinal implant technology. Contributed to the institution of numerous IPRs.
• Mallouk et al. v. Amazon.com, Inc. and Starbucks Corporation (W.D. Wash.) (2024–2025): Represented Amazon and Starbucks in a class action involving alleged biometric data privacy violations, helping secure dismissal of the case with prejudice.
• KAIFI LLC v. Amazon.com, Inc. et al. (E.D. Tex.) (2024–2025): Represented Amazon in a patent infringement suit brought by an entity associated with a Korean sovereign wealth fund and involving speech recognition technology. Developed invalidity contentions demonstrating Amazon’s earlier innovations and helped secure a favorable settlement.
• Select Research, Ltd., v. Amazon.com, Inc., et al. (E.D. Tex., S.D.N.Y.) (2024–2025): Represented Amazon in a series of lawsuits brought by Select Research accusing Amazon of misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contracts, and patent infringement. Secured dismissal with prejudice of most recent lawsuit.
• ClearOne, Inc. v. Shure Incorporated, Shure Incorporated v. ClearOne Inc. (N.D. Ill., D. Del., PTAB, Fed. Cir.) (2019–2021): Represented ClearOne in multiple disputes involving beamforming microphone technology. Helped obtain a preliminary injunction barring Shure from selling a competing product, defeated Shure’s efforts to obtain injunctive relief against ClearOne, argued at summary judgment, and helped secure a complete defense jury verdict in a design patent case.
• Peloton Interactive, Inc. v. Flywheel Sports, Inc., Peloton Interactive, Inc. v. Echelon Fitness Multimedia LLC, et al., Peloton Interactive, Inc. v. ICON Health & Fitness, Inc. (D. Del, E.D. Tex., PTAB) (2019–2021): Represented Peloton in multiple patent litigations against direct competitors. Successfully defended the validity of Peloton’s patents in multiple forums, securing Peloton’s position as the market leader in streaming fitness. Peloton’s case against Flywheel was recently featured in a documentary that premiered at Tribeca Film Festival.
• Pfizer Inc. et al v. Genentech, Inc. (PTAB) (2016–2018): Represented Pfizer in dozens of IPR proceedings related to the blockbuster cancer drug Herceptin. Navigated complex landscape of cases filed against Genentech by multiple entities. Successfully requested rehearing of non-institution IPR decision, ultimately resulting in cancellation of all challenged claims. Invalidated several Genentech patents before obtaining favorable settlement.
• Oracle America, Inc. v. Intellectual Ventures I LLC (E.D. Tex, PTAB, Fed. Cir.) (2015–2019): Represented Oracle in district court, PTAB, and ultimately an appellate proceeding after invalidating Intellectual Ventures’ user interface patent at the PTAB.

Professional Affiliations

Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association

Community Involvement

Ann Arbor Thrift Shop, Member