Atlanta (April 12, 2016) – Intellectual Property attorney Mary Anthony Merchant, Ph.D., has joined Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP as a partner. Merchant, a registered patent attorney, focuses on IP services for products and inventions in life sciences sectors including biotechnology, veterinary and human biologics, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, cosmetics, consumer products, nutraceuticals and medical devices.
“We are excited to have Mary An join us and expand our innovative intellectual property practice,” offered Louise M. Wells, Managing Partner. “Her extraordinary life sciences background provides us with depth in an area we have been looking to expand upon.”
“MMM’s Technology group is extremely well-respected, and the firm as a whole offers the well-rounded approach that my clients appreciate,” Dr. Merchant said. “The services they have in place can assist innovative startups while providing counsel and support to larger companies.”
Dr. Merchant provides intellectual property counsel to a variety of clients, including multinational corporations, mid-cap companies, and start-up biotech and medical-device companies. She also provides counsel related to issues involving regulatory matters before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She works with emerging-growth companies, both domestically and internationally, and has been involved with financial transactions involving initial public offerings, sales and procurements of assets, and mergers and acquisitions. Her experience encompasses patent prosecution, litigation, reissue and reexamination, post-grant proceedings, licensing, due diligence and opinions.
She is ranked in The Best Lawyers in America, for biotechnology law. In addition to her thriving practice, she is also an accomplished teacher. She has been Adjunct Professor of Law at Mercer University School of Law since 2010. She has also lectured at Emory University College of Law and Georgia State University College of Law. She is a member of the Licensing Executives Society, The Association of University Technology Managers and The Intellectual Property Owners Association.
She earned her J.D. with honors, from the University of Florida Levin College of Law; her Ph.D. from the University of Florida College of Medicine; and her A.B., cum laude from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. Dr. Merchant's graduate and post-graduate research involved both mammalian and plant molecular biology, protein biochemistry, immunology, microbiology, and infectious diseases.
She was previously with Ballard Spahr, LLP.
About Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP
Morris, Manning & Martin (www.mmmlaw.com) is an AmLaw 200 law firm with national and international reach. We dedicate ourselves to the constant pursuit of our clients’ success. To provide our clients with optimal value, we combine market-leading legal services with a total understanding of their needs to maximize effectiveness, efficiency and opportunity. MMM enjoys national prominence for its real estate, corporate, litigation, technology, healthcare, intellectual property, energy & infrastructure, capital markets, environmental, international trade, insurance, and timberland & forest products practices. MMM has offices in and around Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, Savannah and Washington, D.C. The firm also has a business development office in Beijing, China and a strategic alliance office in São Paulo, Brazil.
Media Contact for MMM: Terri Thornton, (404) 932-4347, Terri@TerriThornton.com