About Michael J
Michael J Berchou combines technical training and legal education in a career that bridges engineering and intellectual property law. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo, earned in 1988, and returned to the same campus to complete both a Juris Doctor and an MBA in 1993. That mix of technical and business studies has guided the choices he made early in practice and continues to inform his work.
After law school, Berchou moved into intellectual property practice. By 1998 he was a partner in the Intellectual Property Group at Phillips Lytle LLP. That role put him in the middle of patent and IP matters for a variety of clients, where he drew on his electrical engineering background as well as his legal training. Colleagues from that period describe him as steady and practical in handling technical issues alongside legal strategy.
He joined Harter Secrest & Emery LLP later in his career and became a partner there in 2016. The move shifted his base but not his subject matter. Over the years he has handled patent prosecution, counseling on IP portfolio management, and work tied to licensing and technology transactions. He has supported clients on disputes as part of larger teams, often translating technical specifications into legal arguments.
Berchou’s education in business law—an MBA earned the same year as his JD—has shaped how he advises clients. He approaches intellectual property not only as a matter of claim language and prosecution deadlines but also in terms of commercial value and business risk. That perspective is often useful for companies weighing patent filing strategies against development budgets and market timing.
Outside the office he serves on boards in the Buffalo area. He is a board member of Road Less Traveled Productions and of Literacy Buffalo Niagara. Those roles reflect interests outside law and connect him to arts and community literacy efforts in the region.
After decades in practice, Michael J Berchou continues at Harter Secrest & Emery LLP as a partner. His current practice concentrates on intellectual property matters.
