Ruth Rivard focuses her practice on helping clients manage, protect and enforce their rights in their intellectual property. Ruth counsels clients on obtaining, using, protecting and licensing their intellectual property. Specifically, her practice includes patent, copyright, trademark and domain name enforcement and defense, prosecution of federal trademark applications, copyright registration, reviewing licensing agreements and preparing assignments for patents, trademarks and copyrights.

Ruth helps clients enforce their intellectual property rights and defend against legal claims brought by others through her intellectual property litigation practice. Ruth has represented plaintiffs and defendants in trademark and copyright litigation, as well as general business litigation involving contract disputes and deceptive and unfair trade practices. She has also represented plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of patent infringement matters, including cases involving medical devices, health supplements, library management systems, oil recovery systems in ethanol plants, building trade devices and software systems. Ruth has appeared in federal and state courts, including federal appellate proceedings. Ruth has also represented clients in AAA and FINRA arbitration proceedings.

Ruth is a registered patent attorney licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. As a seasoned litigator and attorney admitted to practice before the USPTO, Ruth is able to serve as lead counsel in the new post-grant review (PGR) and inter-partes review (IPR) contested case proceedings before the newly instituted USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

In 2012, she was selected by her peers for inclusion as a Super Lawyer®-Rising Star. She is Assistant Chair of Leonard, Street and Deinard’s Intellectual Property practice group, is a member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, and has received the firm’s award for Pro Bono Service to the Indigent.

Before joining Leonard, Street and Deinard, Ruth was a law clerk for Justice Sam Hanson of the Minnesota Supreme Court and for Chief Magistrate Judge Arthur J. Boylan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Prior to entering into the legal profession, Ruth was a stay-at-home mom, a volunteer art teacher for grades 1 through 6 and a soccer coach for her five children.

Professional and Civic Activities

• Federal Bar Association
• Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association

Presentations

• Ruth presented “Top 10 Tips for Representing Copyright Clients” at the Minnesota CLE 2011 Midwest Intellectual Property Institute.

Education

• J.D., magna cum laude, William Mitchell College of Law
       Assistant editor, William Mitchell Law Review
  
• B.S., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Purdue University

Admissions

• State of Minnesota
• U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
• Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
• Registered Patent Attorney, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office