Anneliese Mayer is a patent attorney and intellectual property strategist who helps clients protect, commercialize, and defend innovation. She co-chairs Merchant’s Chemical & Life Sciences Practice Group and serves in leadership roles within the firm’s Licensing, Trade Secret, and IP Due Diligence groups. With a background in chemistry, seven years of in-house counsel experience at a Fortune 500 company, and more than two decades in intellectual property practice, Anneliese brings both technical depth and a practical understanding of how IP strategy supports business goals.
Anneliese develops and manages U.S. and international patent portfolios from early invention evaluation through prosecution, appeals, post-grant proceedings, and coordinated foreign strategy. She works closely with inventors and business teams to shape protection strategies as technologies move from research and development toward commercialization. Her experience spans a broad range of chemical and life sciences technologies, including advanced materials, biotechnology, agricultural innovation, food and packaging, industrial systems, and connected or automated equipment.
Beyond patent prosecution, Anneliese advises clients on licensing, strategic transactions, freedom-to-operate issues, and IP due diligence. She helps structure agreements that support research, development, manufacturing, and commercialization, and evaluates intellectual property in connection with acquisitions, investments, licensing opportunities, and product launches. Her in-house experience gives her a strong appreciation for the business, technical, and legal considerations that often need to be weighed together.
When disputes arise, Anneliese helps clients make sense of the technical, legal, and commercial issues at stake. She advises on infringement and invalidity, pre-suit investigations, expert strategy, settlement, administrative proceedings, and litigation. She especially enjoys working directly with inventors to understand the story behind an idea, identify its broader potential, and develop an IP strategy that supports where the innovation is headed.
Outside the office, Anneliese is a distance runner who enjoys hiking, cooking, music, and time outdoors with her family.