Merchant & Gould Patent Filings Up 12% in 2009.

Merchant & Gould Patent Filings Up 12% in 2009

937 Patents Issued Last Year, Up From 822

MINNEAPOLIS, March 23, 2010 - Merchant & Gould, an intellectual property law firm, is pleased to announce that its patent practice continued to grow in 2009. The firm's total number of issued patents jumped 12%. The firm secured 850 utility patents and 87 design patents during the calendar year, for a total of 937. Merchant & Gould secured 822 patents in 2008.

"Merchant & Gould continues to be one of the most active patent firms in the nation," said Julie Daulton, a patent prosecutor at Merchant & Gould and member of the firm's marketing committee. "We pride ourselves not only in our ability to draft and secure rock-solid patents for our clients, but also to successfully defend those patents in court when necessary."

According to Intellectual Property Today, Merchant & Gould ranked 22^nd among U.S. law firms for most patents issued in 2009, of the 356 firms represented.

About Merchant & Gould

Merchant & Gould is a national intellectual property law firm with more than 100 attorneys in offices in Atlanta, Denver, Knoxville, Minneapolis, Omaha, Seattle, and Washington, DC. The firm has represented the worldwide intellectual property interests of clients in diverse industries and technologies for 115 years.