Alexander R. Karana

An experienced attorney at CMDA Law's Livonia, Michigan, office, Alexander R. Karana’s practice areas include intellectual property, entertainment and sports law, environmental law and international law. Licensed in Michigan and Illinois and registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, he pairs rigorous legal training with a technical foundation that few practitioners can match.

Mr. Karana's work centers on patent and trademark prosecution, intellectual property strategy, and technology-driven business transactions. He also handles business formations and business litigation. His clients range from early-stage startups and entrepreneurs to established companies, all seeking to safeguard their ideas, expand their brands and resolve complex contract and intellectual property disputes. His guiding philosophy is that legal counsel should advance business growth while keeping risk to a minimum.

A consummate professional, Mr. Karana’s services include preparing, filing, and prosecuting U.S. and international patents, as well as portfolio management, licensing and enforcement. He conducts trademark clearance searches, guides registration and brand strategy, and defends and enforces marks. In copyright matters, he assists with registration, licensing and infringement actions. He also advises on intellectual property-driven mergers and acquisitions, licensing agreements, joint ventures and technology commercialization, and guides growth-stage businesses through entity formation and compliance.

Furthermore, Mr. Karana brings particular knowledge to entertainment and sports law, representing athletes, musicians, influencers and creatives in contract negotiations and rights management so they can protect and monetize their assets. His experience also includes work as a product legal assistant with carbon credit registry platforms and as contract counsel on patent filings, trademark registrations and intellectual property-intensive transactions.

Mr. Karana earned his Juris Doctor from UIC Law School, graduating with distinction, with a concentration in intellectual property law on the patent track. His undergraduate background in chemical engineering from Michigan State University informs his technical understanding of client innovations. He speaks intermediate Arabic and Aramaic (Sureth).

An upstanding figure in the legal circle, Mr. Karana is deeply engaged in the legal community as president of the Chaldean American Bar Association and former president of the Assyrian American Bar Association. His memberships include the State Bar of Michigan, the Illinois State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Detroit Economic Club (young leader) and the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce, among many others.