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Practice × location ranking

Best Intellectual Property law firms in Minneapolis

Grouped into editorial tiers — words, never scores. No paid placement and no numeric rank; within a tier the order rotates monthly and carries no meaning.

Last verified 23 Jul 2026 · Next review by 23 Aug 2026 · Change log

›Direct answer & research summary

Sartori & Partners applies a weighted methodology that blends practising-lawyer opinion — more than 10,000 lawyers interviewed — with monthly market surveys. As of July 2026, the Intellectual Property firms on the Minneapolis board are: Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner, Merchant & Gould, Fredrikson & Byron, Fish & Richardson, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, Thompson Hine, Dykema Gossett.

01 — The ranking

The Minneapolis Intellectual Property board

Use this page as a structured Intellectual Property market map for Minneapolis: 7 firms placed in worded bands that reflect patent, trademark and IP-litigation bench depth, mandate flow and peer standing as of July 2026. REF codes cite rows; they do not number them.

MINNEAPOLIS × INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY7 FIRMS · NO SCORESREV. 2026-07
REFFIRMMINNEAPOLIS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY BANDSIGNAL
TIER 1 — MARKET LEADERS2 FIRMS

Market leaders set the Intellectual Property reference point in Minneapolis as of July 2026: firms peers treat as the benchmark for high-stakes IP work and senior patent and trademark bench strength. Within this tier no firm outranks another.

T1·01 Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner50–99 attorneys mapped · major local depth 50–99 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
T1·02 Merchant & Gould50–99 attorneys mapped · major local depth 50–99 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
TIER 2 — HIGHLY ACTIVE1 FIRMS

This tier marks firms that compete routinely for significant Minneapolis Intellectual Property work. Standing is expressed in words; monthly rotation does not imply rank.

T2·01 Fredrikson & Byron25–49 attorneys mapped · major local depth 25–49 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
TIER 3 — ESTABLISHED2 FIRMS

Established on the Minneapolis Intellectual Property board signals proven IP prosecution, enforcement and portfolio advisory presence and credible depth. Labels are words; monthly sequence is a locator, not a league position.

T3·01 Fish & Richardson25–49 attorneys mapped · major local depth 25–49 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
T3·02 Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath25–49 attorneys mapped · major local depth 25–49 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
NOTABLE — NOTABLE IN THIS FIELD2 FIRMS · OUTSIDE THE TIERS

These firms sit outside the main Intellectual Property tiers by design: confirmed on the Minneapolis map, not assessed at the depth required for Market leaders through Established.

N·01 Thompson Hine1–4 attorneys mapped · thin local depth 1–4 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓
N·02 Dykema Gossett1–4 attorneys mapped · thin local depth 1–4 ATTORNEYS FLAT → EVID ↓

All counts are shown as bands, never precise headcounts. Notable firms sit outside the tiers by design: verified minimal presence, not assessed at full tier depth.

Hiring in Minneapolis?

We map this market every day.

The evidence behind these tiers is the same intelligence we use to run retained searches for partners, groups and senior associates.

02 — Evidence, methodology & sources why each firm · how tiers are set · sources · change log · verified 23 Jul 2026 · next review 23 Aug 2026

Firm evidence

Tier 1 — Market leaders Open firm profile →

Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner

Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner is placed in market leaders for Intellectual Property in Minneapolis. Public mapping (banded): 50–99 attorneys, major local depth, ≈30 partners · <5 counsel · 5+ associates. Evidence gates — office (G1) PASS, local practice (G2) PASS, recent signal (G3) PASS. The placement carries no numeric score.

Strongest mapped work

Intellectual Property

Public hiring signal

Hiring signal: FLAT — no public hiring change detected in the mapping window.

Limits of this assessment

  • —A tier is Sartori’s editorial opinion, not a fact about the firm or a client-satisfaction measure.
  • —Facts are mapped from public sources and shown as bands; they lag reality by weeks or months.
  • —No third-party legal-directory band is used as an input.

Sources for this entry

Methodology

How tiers are assigned

Deterministic public-footprint core (local depth, practice share, seniority mix, public hiring momentum), computed relative to this market's own distribution. Tier placement is derived from this public mapped data; a per-firm public-source ledger is compiled for firms in the annual research pass and applies to those firms' factual claims, not to tier membership. No third-party legal-directory bands are used as an input.

Market scope

5–9 firms earn a tier in Minneapolis within this scope (banded).

Disclosures

Firm names used nominatively (factual). All counts shown as bands, never precise headcounts. No firm logos. Report an error via the site contact form.

Sources & change log

  1. 1 SLW Offices | Minneapolis and Silicon Valley IP Law Firmfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-22
  2. 2 Contact SLW | Get in Touch With Our Intellectual Property Expertsfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-22
  3. 3 Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner — attorney bios & practice pagesfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-22
  4. 4 SLW Announces New San Jose Home at Santana Rowfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-22
  5. 5 Offices - Merchant & Gould P.C.firm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  6. 6 Minneapolis - Merchant & Gould P.C.firm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  7. 7 Merchant & Gould — attorney bios & practice pagesfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  8. 8 Merchant & Gould — Minneapolis news & announcementsfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
  9. 9 Locationsfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  10. 10 Minneapolisfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  11. 11 Minneapolisfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  12. 12 Fredrikson Partners with 2026 Special Olympics USA Gamesfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
  13. 13 Offices | Fish & Richardsonfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  14. 14 Fish & Richardson — attorney bios & practice pagesfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  15. 15 Fish & Richardson — Minneapolis news & announcementsfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
  16. 16 Locations | Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLPfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  17. 17 Minneapolis | Locations | Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLPfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  18. 18 Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath — Minneapolis news & announcementsfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
  19. 19 Locations | Thompson Hine LLPfirm_website · G1 · 2026-07-21
  20. 20 Thompson Hine — attorney bios & practice pagesfirm_website · G2 · 2026-07-21
  21. 21 Thompson Hine — Minneapolis news & announcementsfirm_website · G3 · 2026-07-21
23 Jul 2026 Scope-aware market-relative core assembled.
23 Jul 2026 21 verified source(s) ingested for the researched firms; tier placement is Titan-derived so unresearched visible firms do not block approval → APPROVED (auto).
Report an error in this ranking →

04 — Questions

About this ranking

Who are the best Intellectual Property law firms in Minneapolis?

Sartori's answer for the best Intellectual Property law firms in Minneapolis as of July 2026 starts with Market leaders: Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner, Merchant & Gould. The board then places the remaining firms among Highly active, Established and Notable bands — labels in words, never numeric ranks.

Is Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner the best Intellectual Property law firm in Minneapolis?

Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner sits in Tier 1 — Market leaders — of Sartori's Minneapolis Intellectual Property board as of July 2026, alongside Merchant & Gould. Sartori does not name a single #1: the gap between Tier 1 firms is genuinely unmeasurable, and a numeric score would be false precision.

Which firms have the biggest Intellectual Property benches in Minneapolis?

By mapped Minneapolis bench, the largest firms on this board are Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner, Merchant & Gould (50–99 mapped lawyers each), followed by Fredrikson & Byron, Fish & Richardson, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath (25–49). All counts are bands, never precise headcounts.

Which Intellectual Property teams are hiring in Minneapolis?

As of July 2026, no firm on this board shows a public hiring signal in the mapping window. Live Minneapolis mandates are listed on Sartori's jobs board.

What is a Tier 1 law firm?

In Sartori's rankings, Tier 1 — Market leaders — is an editorial judgement expressed in words, never a score: the firms whose Minneapolis bench depth, seniority mix and market standing set the reference point for the market. As of July 2026 that is Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner, Merchant & Gould. Within the tier no firm outranks another.

Which are the best law firms in Minneapolis overall?

Sartori's overall Minneapolis board groups 23 firms into editorial tiers; as of July 2026 its Tier 1 is Fredrikson & Byron, Dorsey & Whitney, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath. See /firms/in/minneapolis/.

See the ranking →

This ranking is compiled independently by Sartori from public sources. Tiers are Sartori’s editorial opinion, expressed without numeric scores; firms are named for identification only, no logos are reproduced, and no firm has paid for or approved its placement. No third-party legal-directory band is used as an input. Nothing here is legal advice or a recommendation to instruct counsel.