diff --git a/backend/errs/validate.go b/backend/errs/validate.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..661a1f1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/errs/validate.go
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+package errs
+
+import "errors"
+
+var ErrAtLeastOne = errors.New("at least one field must be provided")
diff --git a/backend/utilities/merge.go b/backend/utilities/merge.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bdb556dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/utilities/merge.go
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package utilities
+
+import "reflect"
+
+// Merge merges two structs of the same type such that non-zero values from the updated struct take precedence.
+func Merge[T any](existing T, updated T) T {
+	existingVal := reflect.ValueOf(&existing).Elem()
+	updatedVal := reflect.ValueOf(updated)
+
+	for i := 0; i < existingVal.NumField(); i++ {
+		existingField := existingVal.Field(i)
+		updatedField := updatedVal.Field(i)
+
+		// Check if the updated field is non-zero
+		if !isZeroValue(updatedField) {
+			existingField.Set(updatedField)
+		}
+	}
+
+	return existing
+}
+
+// isZeroValue checks if a reflect.Value is the zero value for its type
+func isZeroValue(v reflect.Value) bool {
+	return reflect.DeepEqual(v.Interface(), reflect.Zero(v.Type()).Interface())
+}