Li Zhu

Clients call Li when they need a champion in the courtroom or an advisor in the boardroom.

Li has spent more than a decade litigating bet-the-company patent, trade secret, and technology-focused business disputes for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies - in A.I., software, biotech, consumer electronics, and medical devices - to startups and individual inventors hailing from Silicon Valley, where he grew up.

Li also has extensive experience at all stages of the licensing pipeline. This experience starts with identifying value in existing IP portfolios, and often culminates in spearheading international licensing campaigns spanning multiple jurisdictions, including Germany and China. Li counsels his clients on how to navigate the complexity of litigation across multiple unique forums so that they can best protect their most valuable assets.

Li’s fierce advocacy extends to providing pro bono representation to individuals who would not otherwise be able to obtain legal services. His trial experience includes passionate advocacy for indigent clients in state and immigration court. Li’s pro bono victories include successfully obtaining asylum for a tortured Cameroonian immigrant who was persecuted for her political activism by an oppressive state police force, and protecting the rights of an abused single mother and her newborn child under the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Education

• University of Minnesota Law School, J.D., magna cum laude (2011); Supervising Editor, Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology
• University of California, San Diego, B.S. in Bioengineering (2007)

Languages

Representative Matters

• Listed in Benchmark Litigation's 40 & Under Guide (2024)
• Recipient of the "Asian Leadership Award," Profiles in Diversity Journal (2024)
• Awarded the Wiley M. Manuel Pro Bono Certificate by the California Lawyers Association for providing at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services (2023)
• Named a “North Star Lawyer” by the Minnesota State Bar Association for providing at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services (2014, 2016)

Professional

• Federal Bar Association
• Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, Pathfinder (2018)
• Minnesota State Bar Association
• National Asian Pacific American Bar Association

Speeches

• Using IP to Protect Your Brand
  North American Entrepreneur Summit (January 27, 2024)
• Evaluating and Exploiting Opportunities in Global Patent Litigation
  American Bar Association (April 25, 2023)
• Efficient Evidence Gathering and Use Across Jurisdictions for Global Patent Litigation
  IPL Spring (April 7, 2022)
• Patent v Trade Secret Protection
  AccessMCLE, Webinar (May 24, 2017)
• How Early Stage and Growh Companies Can Protect their Intellectual Property
  The Bio2Device Group, Sunnyvale, California (September 15, 2015)
• The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA): What You Need To Know
  Minnesota Intellectual Property Counsel, Minneapolis, Minnesota (June 12, 2012)
• The America Invents Act: Enforcing and Challenging Patents
  Co-presenter (February 23, 2012)
• The America Invents Act: Overview and Strategic Considerations
  Co-presenter (January 26, 2012)
• The America Invents Act: Strategies for Litigation Now and in the Future
  BNA, CLE Presentation Webinar (December 15, 2011)

Articles

• "Evaluating and Exploiting Opportunities in Global Patent Litigation," American Bar Association (April 25, 2023)
• "Maximizing Evidentiary Efficiencies in Global Patent Litigation," Landslide, Vol. 15, No. 3, (March/April 2023)
• "Efficient Evidence Gathering and Use Across Jurisdictions for Global Patent Litigation," IPL (April 7, 2022)
• "Protecting Trade Secrets: How to Keep the Lid on Your 'Secret Sauce'," IPPro (January 25, 2017)
• "Using Alternative Fee Arrangements to Redefine Your Bottom Line," JDSupra (December 7, 2016)
• "Brexit—The End of the Unitary Patent System as We Know it?," JDSupra (October 19, 2016)
• "Legal Streaming: Build Your Audience Without Getting GG’ed," TechCrunch (November 28, 2015)
• "Companies Should Rethink Their European Patent Strategy," Corporate Counsel (March 31, 2015)
• "Keeping Secrets in the Cloud: Are Storms Ahead for Trade Secret Protection?," InsideCounsel (February 26, 2015)
• "Taking the Pulse of Digital Health: Key Legal Issues Surrounding Wearable Technology," InsideCounsel (February 13, 2015)
• "Five Guidelines for Renegotiating Outsourcing Contracts," Wall Street Journal/CIO Journal (February 2, 2015)
• "Why New Media Should Care About 'Innocence of Muslims'," InsideCounsel (January 29, 2015)
• "A New Cybersecurity Reality for New Media Companies," InsideCounsel (January 15, 2015)
• "The 5 Intellectual Property Mistakes Startups Must Avoid to Protect ROI," InsideCounsel (December 29, 2014)
• "How Game Developers Can Avoid Getting ‘PWN3D’ by a Right-of-Publicity Claim," InsideCounsel (December 18, 2014)
• "Are Courts the New Death Squads for Software Patents? Not So Fast," Bloomberg/BNA (December 12, 2014)
• "The Internet of (Legal) Things," The Corporate Counselor (December 1, 2014)
• "Five Tips for Avoiding Pitfalls in Multi-Sourcing Arrangements," Bloomberg BNA (November 14, 2014)
• "Mobile Application Development: The Next Frontier for Government Compliance," Bloomberg BNA, E-Commerce & Law Report (June 1, 2014)
• "Let's Chat About the Legal Risks of Instant Messaging," Corporate Counsel (March 14, 2014)
• "From the Computer to the Courtroom: The Evolving Role of Source Code in Complex Trials," Bloomberg/BNA, U.S. Law Week (December 1, 2013)
• "Final Rules for PTAB Trials at the USPTO," Robins Kaplan LLP (August 15, 2012)
• "Maximize Value for Clients by Navigating the America Invents Act," Hearsay (Vol. XIV, Issue 3), Minnesota State Bar Association (June 6, 2012)
• "The America Invents Act: Strategies for Litigation Now and in the Future," Bloomberg/BNA  (December 15, 2011)
• "Taking Off: Recent Changes to Venue Transfer of Patent Litigation in the Rocket Docket," 11 Minn. J.L. Sci. & Tech. 901 (January 1, 2010)