Headquartered in the Twin Cities with six offices nationwide, IP boutique Merchant & Gould covers clients on the East Coast in New York and Washington, DC, as far south as Tennessee and Georgia, and into the mountain states with an office in Colorado. The firm's wide national reach has served to provide the firm with access to big-name clients like Microsoft, Polaris, Cristal, and Radisson.

Merchants of Minnesota

Merchant & Gould sprung up over a hundred years ago from humble beginnings as a family-run firm. In the early 1900s, Frank D. Merchant kicked off his patent and trademark law firm with the help of his two sons, Harvey and Ralph. In 1954, attorney John D. Gould joined the firm for a trial period of two months. He ended up overstaying until the present day, eventually adding his name to the firm's partnership. The firm expanded the reach of its IP practice in the 1990s into emerging technologies, like computers, the Internet, biotechnology, polymers, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices, and is today one of the biggest IP firms in the country and top filers of applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Partners in the Patent Process

Merchant & Gould offers the full run of IP services, from IP due diligence to copyright, trademarks, and licensing to patents and post-grant proceedings. The firm has a team of about 50 attorneys and staff who specialize in litigation, so the firm is well-equipped to handle disputes in venues from state and federal court to the International Trade Commission. And no matter the industry, the firm is equipped to handle the IP issues involved. Merchant & Gould’s clients range from those in more cutting-edge industries like technology, nanotechnology, and alternative energy to those with lower-tech specialties such as veterinary products and shooting sports.

Merchant & Gould is a guru when it comes to the world wide web. The firm helps clients manage their online and social media presence and resolves disputes that arise, for instance, when third parties abuse a client’s brand on social media. The firm has significant experience enforcing domain name trademarks through the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) and filing complaints under the Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act—for example, the firm notably won a domain battle of behalf of big-name client Polaris. When it comes to issues related to search engines, such as using trademarks as keywords, the firm leans on the expertise of former Yahoo! and Google employees who work for the firm. Merchant & Gould has such intimate knowledge of online IP issues that it even wrote a book—the firm authored A Legal Guide to the Internet in conjunction with the Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development, covering patent, trademark, and copyright issues.

Micro(soft) Managers

Chances are, if you use Microsoft Word, you've unwittingly crossed paths with Merchant & Gould. The firm has a longstanding partnership with computer technology giant Microsoft, for whom it has filed innumerable design patents. Technologies which Merchant & Gould have filed patents for include e-mail applications, word processors, word completion, search functions, video graphics, and digital files.