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Anneliese S. Mayer

she / her / hers

Partner

AMayer@MerchantGould.com
D 612.371.5339

Assistant

Kristy N. Self

KSelf@MerchantGould.com
D 865.380.5989
Anneliese S. Mayer photo

With seven years' experience as in-house counsel for a Fortune 500 company, Anneliese approaches her clients' legal projects with the end business goal in mind. Her patent prosecution experience includes working with inventors from around the world on pre-drafting strategy through appeals before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences and opposition strategy before the European Patent Office. She has facilitated multimillion-dollar license agreements, as well as confidentiality and development agreements.

Anneliese’s litigation experience includes working on patent, trademark, and trade secret litigation teams at various stages of the litigation process from pre-filing due diligence through trial. She has also advised clients on overall IP strategy, best practices and education, freedom to operate, infringement and invalidity opinions, and due diligence and patent portfolio analyses for acquisitions and licensing opportunities. 

She has worked in a wide range of technical areas, including chemical, mechanical, biological, food science, and software and business methods.

Anneliese serves as a volunteer attorney for the Children's Law Center of Minnesota. She enjoys hiking with her family, cooking, and listening to music. 

  • Develops, manages, and audits U.S. and international patent portfolios, including invention harvesting, patentability analysis, application drafting, prosecution, appeals, continuation and divisional planning, foreign coordination, and identification of claim gaps and expansion opportunities.
  • Builds evidence-based prosecution strategies using experimental results, comparative testing, expert declarations, and technical literature to establish patentability and strengthen claim ...
  • Marquette University Law School, J.D., 2002
  • College of St. Benedict, B.A. Chemistry, 1999
  • Minnesota State Bar, 2002
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 2002

Negotiated technology transfer and license agreements granting rights of newly acquired sensor IP to a number of start-up and smaller organizations.

Negotiated long-term development agreements with international chemical and biological raw material suppliers.

Negotiated project-specific development agreements with global machine and packaging companies.

Drafted intercompany agreements moving intellectual property to one corporate entity and licensing the use of the intellectual property to the operating entities of the organization around the world.

American Intellectual Property Law Association

Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association

Licensing Executives Society

Co-Chair, Chemical & Life Sciences Group

Co-Chair, Licensing

Co-Chair, Trade Secret

Co-Chair, IP Due Diligence

Leadership and programming, Women of M&G

Former member, Strategic Planning Committee

Presentations

Moderator, “Career Opportunities in the IP Space: A Roundtable Discussion,” Midwest IP Institute Webcast Series, Minnesota CLE, November 3, 2022.

Presenter, “IP Law for Non-IP Attorneys: Four Hot Takes on What Your Clients Need You to Know,” CLE, March 12, 2020.

Co-Presenter, “10 Practices for Improving Outcomes of IP Licensing and Joint Development Agreements,” Midwest IP Institute, Minnesota CLE, 2019.

Presenter, IP Law for Non-IP Attorneys: Four Hot Takes On What Your Clients Need You to Know, CLE, March 12, 2020

Instructor, IP Management 7: Biotechnological/Pharmaceutical Licensing, CASRIP Patent and Intellectual Property Law and Practice Summer Institute, July 27, 2016

Panelist, IP Provisions in Employment: Contracts Protecting the Company’s Best Assets on the Front End, December 16, 2015

Panelist, Fundamental Intellectual Property Law and Related Restrictive Covenants, ABA 8th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference, Los Angeles, CA, November 6, 2014

Panelist, IP Provisions in Employment Contracts, Midwest IP Institute, Minnesota CLE, September 26, 2013

Panelist, IP Issues in Contracts, Minnesota CLE, June 12, 2013

Panelist, IP Issues in Employment Contracts: Protecting the Company’s Best Assets on the Front End, Minnesota CLE, 2013

Presenter, Collaboration Agreements to Support Open Innovation, LES Minnesota Chapter meeting, February 19, 2013

Presenter, Practical Considerations for Development Agreements, LES Minnesota Chapter Meeting, February 9, 2010

Presenter, Your IP Portfolio, MHTA CEO Roundtable, February 5, 2010

Publications

Profiled in Minnesota Lawyer, “Top Women in Law: Anneliese Mayer, Merchant & Gould P.C.,” October 17, 2025.

Featured in Attorney at Law Magazine, “Merchant & Gould: Triumphs of Women Attorneys,” October 3, 2023.

Quoted in Minnesota Business, “Selling Overseas? Know Your Intellectual Property Rights,” October 2018.

Minnesota Lawyer, Top Women in Law, 2025

Vice Chair, Bountiful Basket Food Shelf

Volunteer Attorney, Children’s Law Center of Minnesota

Mentor and professional-development leader within the firm