John C. Reich

612.336.4608  |  Email  |  vCard  |  Biography

Minneapolis Office
3200 IDS Center
80 South Eighth Street
Minneapolis, MN
55402 USA

ph: 612.332.5300
fax: 612.332.9081

 Assistant:

Linda Beckman
lbeckman@merchantgould.com
612.371.5214

Eduction

Bar Admissions

Professional Affiliations

Representative Case Studies

John, a senior partner at Merchant & Gould, practices patent law with an emphasis on client counseling. John understands that a client's ultimate goal when investing in intellectual property is gaining a business and competitive advantage. He learns his client's business and then draws on his practical, technical, and business experience to counsel them on the strategic development and use of intellectual property rights. John's practice includes patent prosecution, the strategic and practical development and use of patent portfolios, licensing, due diligence studies, and infringement and validity investigations. He also enjoys educating clients and mentoring developing attorneys.

John brings diverse technical experience to clients including the electrical, software, and mechanical arts. Examples of industries in which John has counseled clients include medical devices, instrumentation, metering, printing, information systems, software platforms, digital rights management, automotive equipment, micro-electronics, and others.

In addition to his legal practice, John serves on the Board of Directors and as Corporate Secretary for R&M Mfg. Co. and on the boards for several non-profit organizations.

Education

Purdue University
B.S.E.E., 1987

The John Marshall Law School
J.D., 1992

Adjunct Professor
University of Minnesota Law School, 1994-97

Bar Admissions

Minnesota State Bar, 1992
Minnesota Federal Bar, 1993
United States Patent and Trademark Office, 1994

Professional Affiliations

American Bar Association
American Intellectual Property Law Association
Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association
Minnesota State Bar Association

Representative Case Studies

• Conducted intellectual property due diligence for client's $300M acquisition of another company and advised on strengths and weaknesses of acquired intellectual property portfolio and on related agreement terms.
• Mined client's patent portfolio during patent litigation to craft and file new patent claims covering one of plaintiff's core products, resulting in settlement of the litigation.
• Worked with client to develop accessory products and related patent family to increase value of core product and patent rights, resulting in patent licenses.
• Responsible for strategizing and managing the drafting and prosecuting of interdisciplinary patents that combined different scientific and technical arts, such as the life sciences with hardware and software.