Diversity Committee Bios

Katherine M. Kowalchyk Katherine Kowalchyk is the Chair of the Diversity Committee. She has been with Merchant and Gould since 1991 and she believes strongly in the value of creating a work environment that fosters the success of attorneys of diverse backgrounds. She is appreciative of the support Merchant and Gould has provided to her to work on a flexible schedule throughout the years. She is the firm representative for Twin Cities Diversity in Practice, an organization dedicated to attracting and retaining attorneys of diverse background to the Twin cities. She is a strong advocate regarding many of the great attributes of our area including jobs, education, recreation, and culture. Katherine has been active in community service on a local level and international level. Locally, she remains involved with Groves Academy, a private school and outreach center serving families with children having learning disabilities. Internationally, she is involved with fundraising for the LAMB Hospital in Northwestern Bangladesh. The LAMB Hospital is a maternity hospital and also meets the health care needs of the poor in this area.

Brian H. Batzli  Currently the Managing Director and CEO of Merchant & Gould, Brian has been with the firm since 1987. Brian's practice is focused on counseling clients on matters relating to software, e-commerce, computer hardware, digital circuit design, and traditional electrical and mechanical technologies. His practice areas include licensing, patent, trademark, computer law, and copyright. Brian also provides client counseling on technology innovation issues, patent infringement and validity opinions, licensing, and due diligence matters. He is also experienced in contested matters. Brian is a former adjunct professor at Hamline University School of Law where he taught courses in computer law, intellectual property, and selected topics in patent law.

Shane A. Brunner Shane Brunner represents clients in complex intellectual property cases involving patents, trademarks, trade dress and trade secrets in a variety of industry sectors and technical fields including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, mechanical technology, electronics, computer technologies and business methods. Mr. Brunner has extensive experience in representing generic pharmaceutical companies in Hatch-Waxman litigation. Mr. Brunner also often serves as local counsel for intellectual property litigation and other complex litigation brought in the Western District of Wisconsin. Before becoming a lawyer, Mr. Brunner practiced as a certified public accountant at Coopers & Lybrand.

Regina Vogel Culbert Regina Vogel Culbert has over twenty years of litigation experience, and has appeared in state, federal and local courts and alternative dispute resolution forums. She has handled a wide variety of commercial litigation and business disputes involving breach of vendor contracts, failed business purchase agreements, employee non-compete agreements, theft of trade secrets, copyright, trademark, trade dress, patent infringement and unfair competition. She has also litigated disputes involving website design, domain name disputes, rights of publicity, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and claims involving allegations of antitrust. Regina also counsels clients on copyright, the use of photographs and other media on the Internet, trademark rights, protection of confidential business information, web site content including privacy policies and end-user license agreements, non-competition and non-disclosure agreements and other written contract issues. She also has experience enforcing her clients' rights at the International Trade Commission. She has tried jury and non-jury trials, and in one case assisted a client in obtaining an arbitration verdict of over $7 million dollars. The industries Regina has represented are varied, and include manufacturing, food and beverage, retail, software, health care, insurance and Internet businesses. She also represents and counsels individual artists, writers and small business owners. She earned her B.A. from Northwestern University and J.D. from Villanova University School of Law. Prior to moving to Seattle, she was a partner in a Philadelphia law firm, and held many leadership positions in the Philadelphia Bar Association where she concentrated on managing programs to provide pro bono legal assistance and legal education programs in schools. She has served as the Chair of the King County Bar Intellectual Property Section, a member of the Trade Secrets Committee of the Intellectual Property Owners' Association and on the Board of Directors of Washington Lawyers for the Arts.

Megan Friedrich Megan Friedrich is a member of the diversity committee and the Recruiting Manager for the firm. She believes a diverse work environment is important for the success of Merchant & Gould, its clients and employees

Adda C. Gogoris Adda Gogoris' practice spans a broad range. It involves complex U.S. patent prosecution (including appeals, reissues, reexaminations, interferences) as well as global patent procurement and patent opposition management. On the counseling side, it involves development of patent and lifecycle extension strategies and consideration of Hatch-Waxman issues (such as patent term extension and Orange Book listing). Ms. Gogoris also has considerable experience in IP due diligence investigations and in agreement drafting and negotiation. But perhaps Ms. Gogoris is best known for her exculpatory and pre-assertion legal opinions in the areas of pharmaceuticals (including new molecular entities), biomolecules, and diagnostic systems. Her technical experience includes organic molecules and synthetic pashways (in areas such as antihypertensives, lower urinary tract modulators, microtubulin inhibitors, protease inhibitors, ion channel modulators and CNS drugs); drug delivery systems, complex protein structure and architecture, cellular signaling, and multiplex assay systems. Ms. Gogoris, who has a degree in chemical engineering but got involved in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals early on, has represented of U.S. and international clients, from startups and research institutions, through drug development and translational research firms to Fortune 500 companies, including Altaire Pharmaceuticals, Apotex Inc., AutoImmune Inc., Dompé Farmaceutici, Forest Laboratories, NicOx S.A., Novartis, NovoNordisk, Novozymes, Purdue Frederic, New York University, Recordati S.p.A., Sandoz Inc., GlycoZym Inc., Institut de Myologie, and Valio Ltd. Ms. Gogoris is an active member of many professional organizations including AIPLA, NYIPLA, AIPPI and AUTM. She is a member of the Patents Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. She also writes and speaks frequently in the U.S. and abroad on various intellectual property topics. Since 2006, she has co-chaired an annual three-day seminar and clinic for the Practicing Law Institute.

Alton Hornsby III Alton Hornsby III is the diversity committee representative of our Atlanta Office. He is committed to the diversity efforts of Merchant because he believes that a diverse firm provides stronger and better legal representation. Further, Alton is a member of the Gate City Bar Association which is an organization committed to diversity in the legal profession for attorneys of color. Alton also serves as co-chair of the mentoring committee for the Georgia State University Intellectual Property Advisory Board where he mentors African-American law students interested in intellectual property legal careers.

Joe E. Lee Joe Lee is a member of the diversity committee and is committed to the diversity efforts of the firm. He also provides pro bono legal services via the Children's Law Center.

Marianne R. Timm-Schreiber Marianne Timm-Schreiber is a diversity committee representative of our Denver Office. She is committed to the diversity efforts of Merchant because she believes that a firm having diverse backgrounds and unique perspectives provides stronger and better legal representation. Further, Marianne is a member of the Nebraska Women's Bar Association, which promotes and provides support for women in the legal field. She also provides pro bono legal services to the Denver Center for Crime Victims where she provides free legal services to victims of abuse.

W. David Wallace David Wallace is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office. He practices in all areas of intellectual property, with a focus on patent prosecution, counseling and litigation support in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, organic and inorganic chemistry, polymers, foods, medical devices and biotechnology. He is a frequent lecturer and author on topics such as prosecution tips and strategies, case law developments in the Federal Circuit, prosecution history estoppel, and interviewing strategies. He was recently a judge in the Sutherland Moot Court competition and a member of the PLI faculty.

John T. Winemiller John Winemiller represents the firm's Knoxville office on the Diversity Committee. He has a long-standing commitment to the protection and advancement of civil rights for all persons and is particularly interested in fostering diversity within the legal profession. "Fostering and retaining a diverse work force improves any organization -- by increasing and deepening the talent pool and by building an environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and valued for their unique contributions and perspectives." John provides pro bono services through Lambda Legal, as well as local legal aid organizations.

Tong Wu Tong advises U.S. and international clients on intellectual property law, with an emphasis on patent portfolio planning and procurement, infringement and validity assessment and technology transfer. He also has experience in intellectual property right dispute resolution. He is well versed in a variety of technology areas, including semiconductor and superconductor devices, optical systems, electronics, medical imaging and diagnostic systems, telecommunication systems, orthopedic implants and materials characterization and testing systems. He earned his J.D. magna cum laude from the William Mitchell College of Law, a B.S. and a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a master's and doctorate in materials science from Cornell University.