Brian Batzli is an intellectual property attorney and partner at Merchant & Gould’s Minneapolis office. He is also now Chairman Emeritus, having led the firm as CEO, Managing Director and Chairman from 2011 to mid-2018.

An IP Partner Focused on Strategy

A company’s competitive edge begins with its approach to managing its intellectual property. There are myriad different technologies, and the applications for those technologies are virtually endless. While each offers excitement and growth opportunities, maximizing the value of these technologies stems from the strategy behind how the IP is protected, promoted and enforced.

With more than 30 years’ experience in corporate and intellectual property law, Brian offers a unique viewpoint upon which his clients rely. Not only can he deliver all manner of intellectual property services, from licensing to patent prosecution, but he can also provide the strategic IP counseling companies need to remain competitive.

Brian will help you align your intellectual property strategies with your company’s business goals. He’ll help build the structure you need to keep your strategy on track, and he’ll stand by you over the years to ensure continued success.

A Leader Focused on Excellence

For over seven years, Brian led Merchant & Gould as the firm’s CEO, Managing Director, and Chairman. In this capacity, he emphasized delivering excellence at all levels of the firm and in all interactions with clients. His commitment to integrity, value, and deep technical and legal experience shone through in his work and in the firm’s efforts to remain a go-to source for strategic intellectual property legal services.

Now, as Chairman Emeritus, he continues to serve the firm by supporting current leadership.

A Competitor In and Out of the Office

For Brian, a job is not done unless it is done exceedingly well. He is always looking for ways to deliver services more efficiently, to find better solutions and to seek greater opportunities for his clients. This competitive spirit is one that pushes him daily to be the best strategic IP counselor for his clients.

Outside of the office, Brian played in several old-timer hockey leagues before hurting his knee in a, particularly competitive paintball game. He also enjoys running, reading, sailing, golfing, and downhill skiing.

Your Business’s IP Strategy Needs

Brian is committed to doing what is best by you and what will deliver the best value for your company.

Education

William Mitchell College of Law
J.D., cum laude, 1985

University of Minnesota
B.S. Electrical Engineering, 1982

Admissions

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
Minnesota State Bar
Washington State Bar

Professional Affiliations

Carver County (MN) Bar Association
Minnesota State Bar Association
Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association

Board Member and Immediate Past President, 2013 – 2014
President, 2012 – 2013
Board Member and National Representative to the AIPLA, 2008 -- 2012

Washington State Bar Association
Washington State Patent Law Association
American Bar Association
The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation, 2014 – present
American Intellectual Property Law Association

Association Treasurer and Board of Directors, 2016 – present
Vice Chair: Special Committee On Publications, 2015 – 2016
Chair: Emerging Technologies Committee, 2009 – 2011
Vice Chair: Emerging Technologies Committee, 2007 – 2009
- Co-Chair: Reverse Engineering Subcommittee of the Emerging Technologies Committee, 1997 – 1999
Chair: Intellectual Property in Latin America Committee, 2005 – 2007
Vice Chair: Intellectual Property in Latin America Committee, 2003 – 2005
Co-chair: Latin American Study Group, 1999 – 2000
Member: Electronic and Computer Law Committee, 1992 – present
- Co-chair: Licensing Subcommittee of the Electronic and Computer Law Committee, 1994 -- 1999

AIPPI – US
International Trademark Association (INTA)
Licensing Executive's Society (LES)

Mitchell Hamline School of Law –

Board of Trustees, July 2018 – present
IP Advisory Board
- Chair, 2015 - 2017
- Vice Chair, 2014 – 2015
- Board Member, 2010 – 2014 and 2017 -- present

Awards & Recognition

Selected for inclusion in Minnesota Super Lawyers, 1998, 2000, 2005-2018
IAM Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners, Minnesota, 2016-2018
Minnesota's Top Rated Lawyers, by ALM, 2013
IP Stars by Managing IP 2013-2019
Selected as Minnesota’s Top Intellectual Property Lawyers Minnesota Law and Politics, June/July 2001
Minnesota Inventors Congress Judge 1994 - 1997
Commissioner, City of Chanhassen Planning Commission 1988-1993, Chairperson: 1992-93.
City of Chanhassen Maple Leaf Awards, 1991, 1993

Teaching

Adjunct Professor, Hamline University School of Law, 1994 -- 2002
Courses:

Selected Topics in Patent Law (Spring 1996, Fall 1997)
Intellectual Property Survey Course (Fall 1995)
Computer Law (Fall 1994, Fall 1996, Spring 1999, Fall 2000)
Selected Topics in Patent and Computer Law (Spring 1994)

Publications & Speaking

Presentations

Panel member for the seminar “Drafting Globally Compliant Patent Applications: Dream or Reality?” sponsored by the Practising Law Institute (PLI) at the Patent Law Institute 2019 – Critical Issues and Best Practices at New York on April 4, 2019 and San Francisco on April 25, 2019.

The Inner Working of IP in Business Strategy, presented as a Guest Lecturer in The Management of Technology Master’s degree program, University of Minnesota (Twin Cities campus) on April 6, 2018.

Moderator, Leadership Development Seminar, The Forty Thousand Foot View – Leadership and Innovation, sponsored by AIPLA at the Mid-Winter meeting in La Quinta, CA on January 24, 2018.

Moderator AIPPI Perspectives: Representatives from AIPPI-US and AIPPI-Canada Discuss Select Portions of the 2017 Study Questions, sponsored by the AIPLA at Toronto, Canada on June 21, 2017

Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets and Patents: An Intellectual Property Overview, presented as a Guest Lecturer in The Management of Technology Master’s degree program, University of Minnesota (Twin Cities campus) on January 26, 2017.

Monetization-Licensing Issues In View of U.S. Exhaustion Law, 8^th Annual Corporate IP Counsel Forum sponsored by World Congress in New York, NY on March 24, 2016.

Moderator, How To Become An AIPLA Book Author, presented for the AIPLA webinar sponsored by AIPLA’s Career and Practice Management Discussion Series and AIPLA’s Special Committee on Publications on March 17, 2016.

Panel Moderator and Speaker, Partnership: How To Get There and What To Do When You Arrive, presented for the AIPLA webinar sponsored by the organization’s Career and Practice Management Discussion Series on May 14, 2015.

Panel Moderator, International Patent Prosecution: Nuances and Best Practices, for the seminar “Electronic & Computer Patent Law Summit” sponsored by the AIPLA at Chicago, Illinois on June 17, 2014.

Patents: The Role of Intellectual Property, for the seminar “Innovation Seminar” sponsored by the Minnesota Inventor’s Congress at Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 2, 2014.

Panel Member, for the seminar “Wither the Business Method Patent? Bilski and Beyond,” sponsored by Minnesota Continuing Legal Education at Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 26, 2009.

Protecting Your Invention, presented at the “Inventing Success Seminars,” sponsored by the Minnesota Inventor’s Congress at Redwood Falls, Minnesota on June 8, 2007.

Patent Law and PTO Reform update, presented at the “Advanced Computer & Electronic Patent Practice Seminar,” sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) at Boston, Massachusetts on June 2, 2006 and at San Jose, California on June 16, 2006.

WIPO: Status Of The Substantive Patent Law Treaty, presented at the IP in Latin America Committee meeting of the Annual Meeting of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) at Washington, D.C. on October 2005.

Statutory Bar Dates and Alpha & Beta Testing, presented at the “Advanced Computer & Electronic Patent Practice Seminar,” sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) at Seattle, Washington, on June 11, 2004 and at St. Louis, Missouri, on June 18, 2004.

International Trademark Protection, presented at the “International Portfolio Management” track of the AIPLA Annual Meeting, sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) at Washington, D.C., on October 17, 2002.

Licensing and Franchise Law, presented at the seminar “License Agreements,” sponsored by the Minnesota Institute Of Legal Education (MILE) at Minneapolis, Minnesota, on August 7, 2002.

Protecting Your Ideas – An Intellectual Property Overview presented at the seminar “Inventing Success,” sponsored by the Minnesota Inventors Congress at Redwood Falls, Minnesota, on June 13, 2002.

Patents, Trademarks, Licensing & Royalties, presented at the seminar “Inventing Success”, sponsored by the Minnesota Inventors Congress, Owatonna, Minnesota on September 22, 2001.

Key Issues In A Patent License, presented at the seminar "Licensing, Intellectual Property & Web Site Development Agreements", sponsored by Minnesota Institute Of Legal Education (MILE) on February 11, 1999.

Protecting Your Invention, presented at the seminar "Successful Invention Development", sponsored by the Minnesota Inventor's Congress at Redwood Falls, Minnesota, on June 11, 1998.

Prior Art Searching in the Electronics, Computer, and Software Arts, presented at the seminar "Advanced Computer and Electronic Patent Practice Seminar", sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association at Houston, Texas, on May 8, 1998.

The Practice of Intellectual Property, presented at the seminar "Career Program", sponsored by William Mitchell College of Law, on November 8, 1997.

Trademark and Copyright Protection, for the seminar “Beyond The Oral Tradition,” sponsored by Motus Humanus at St. Olaf College on June 5, 1997 (co-speaker with Mr. Greg Sebald).

Businessperson Meets IP Lawyer: A Dialog on the Value of Licensing in Light of ProCD v. Zeidenberg, for the seminar “From the INTERNET to Complex Electronics: Legal Protection For Your Most Valuable Technology,” sponsored by Merchant & Gould, November 7, 1996 (co-speaker with Mr. Mike Cohen).

Panel Member, for the seminar "Invention Protection," sponsored by the Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association in conjunction with the Minnesota Inventors Congress, June 9, 1995.

Prosecuting the Application: The Attorney's Perspective, for the seminar "Basic Computer and Electronic Patent and Practice" sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association, September 23, 1994.

Protecting Your Idea, for the seminar "National Innovation Workshop," sponsored by the U.S. Dept of Commerce et al, September 9-10, 1994.

Panel Member, for the seminar "Invention Protection," sponsored by the Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association in conjunction with the Minnesota Inventors Congress, June 10, 1994.

Principles of Intellectual Property and Licensing, presented at the seminar "Technology Based Economic Development," sponsored by the Minnesota Technology Office of the University of Minnesota - Duluth, May 23, 1994.

Ways to Protect Your Invention, presented at the seminar "Successful Invention Management," sponsored by the Minnesota Inventor's Congress, the Inventor's Resource Center, and Minnesota Technology, Inc., June 10, 1993.

Copyright and Trademark Law, presented at the seminar "Intellectual Property," sponsored by the Minnesota Institute of Legal Education (MILE), January 15, 1993.

The Duty of Disclosure Before The U.S. Patent Office, presented as guest lecturer at Hamline School of Law, Intellectual Property Survey Course, October 26, 1992.

Proprietary Protection and Licensing, presented at the seminar "Inventors - Innovation Workshop," sponsored by the University of Minnesota Duluth Center for Economic Development and The Northeast Technology Resource Center, October 23, 1992.

Fundamentals of Copyright and Trademark Law, presented at the seminar "Intellectual Property for the Corporate and General Attorney," sponsored by the Minnesota Institute of Legal Education (MILE), December 13, 1990.

Licensing as an International Property Protection Method, presented at the seminar "Product Protection in Foreign Markets," sponsored by the Minnesota Trade Office, October 18, 1989.

Publications

Editor, A Guide To Intellectual Property Protection, Minnesota Small Business Assistance Office, Eighth Edition (1996); Ninth Edition (2001); Tenth Edition (2004); Eleventh Edition (2006); and Twelfth Edition (2011).

Batzli and Komanduri, Prior Art Searching For The Electronics and Software Fields, AIPLA -- Advanced Computer and Electronic Patent Practice Seminar (1998).

Editor, A Legal Guide For The Software Developer, Minnesota Small Business Assistance Office, Fifth Edition (1996).

Batzli and Stinebruner, Handheld Scanners: An Invitation for Trouble?, MSBA Computer Law News, Vol. 10 No. 1 (Winter 1994).

Co-Editor, A Legal Guide For The Software Developer, Minnesota Small Business Assistance Office, Fourth Edition (1994).

Frequent contributor to Merchant & Gould's Computer Law Newsletter (1990 – 1998)