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Brendan Bement
Associate
Thompson Coburn Hahn & Hessen, LLP
Brendan Bement is an Associate with Thompson Coburn, LLP. Brendan helps counsel clients on a wide range of intellectual property issues, including intellectual property portfolio management, enforcement and prosecution.
Brendan counsels clients on intellectual property issues, including trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets. Brendan tailors intellectual property solutions to fit each client, with experience in copyright and trademark prosecution, trademark clearance, intellectual property agreements and due diligence.
Brendan has intellectual property litigation experience, including assistance in federal court litigation for trademark and copyright matters, proceedings at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and initiating ex parte proceedings under the Trademark Modernization Act. Brendan’s enforcement practice includes issuing and responding to cease and desist letters and negotiations with opposing parties.
Brendan is a registered patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. With a background in mechanical engineering, Brendan supports clients in a variety of industry sectors.
Recent Articles by Brendan Bement
Brand owners frequently encounter significant challenges in obtaining federal trade dress registration. The recent ruling in the Eastern District of Virginia confirmed that TBL Licensing, LLC, the brand owner of Timberland boots, was not an exception to this struggle. Unlike a word mark, a product design can never be inherently distinctive as a matter of law because consumers are aware that such designs are intended to render the goods more useful or appealing rather than identifying their source. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Bros., Inc., 529 U.S. 205, 212-213 (2000). In order to obtain a federal trademark registration for a product design, the applicant must establish secondary meaning.
