Merchant & Gould is pleased to welcome new associate attorneys Laura L. Hupp, Joseph W. Dubis, Ph.D., and Elisabeth K. Muirhead to its Minneapolis office.

 Laura Hupp, previously from McKee, Voorhees & Sease, P.L.C. of Des Moines, Iowa, and Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P. of Kansas City, Missouri, joins Merchant & Gould’s Chemical & Life Sciences practice group. Her practice will focus on the preparation and prosecution of domestic and international patent applications in the chemical and biotechnology fields as well as software. She also has experience prosecuting patents in the areas of telecommunications, greeting cards, toys, medical devices and athletic apparel. Laura received a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law, an M.S. in Biomedical Science from Baylor College of Medicine, and a B.A. in Biochemistry and Music from Simpson College. She is originally from Scranton, Iowa and is admitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Iowa and Missouri bars.

Joe Dubis joins Merchant & Gould’s Litigation practice group after serving as a summer associate at the firm in 2014 and 2015. His practice will focus on patent litigation, appellate work, and post grant proceedings. Joe received his J.D. from Mitchell Hamline School of Law in 2016, his Ph.D. in Biology and Biomedical Science with an emphasis in Neurosciences from Washington University in St. Louis, and his B.S. in Biology from the University of St. Thomas.  He hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is admitted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Minnesota bar.

Elisabeth Muirhead, who goes by Bette, joins the firm’s Litigation and Chemical & Life Sciences practice groups after working as a summer associate at Merchant & Gould in 2014 and 2015. With three years of work experience at a medical device manufacturer, she will concentrate her litigation practice on the medical device and consumer product industries. She plans to take a brief hiatus from the firm to clerk for Judge Lefkow of the Northern District of Illinois in 2017. Bette received a J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School in 2016, an M.S. in Environmental Chemistry from James Cook University in Australia, and a B.S. in Biology from the University of Puget Sound. She is from Minneapolis and is admitted to the Illinois bar.

“The educational and industry experience these three attorneys bring to the table deepens our practice groups and further enhances our technological breadth,” said Brian Batzli, CEO and Managing Director of Merchant & Gould. “I am confident that they will be excellent additions to our firm and provide great value to our clients.”