News

Verrill Welcomes Experienced Trademark Attorneys to Growing IP Practice

October 15, 2021 Press Releases

(October 15, 2021) – Verrill is pleased to welcome trademark attorneys Thomas Dunn and Rebecca Lessard to the firm’s growing Intellectual Property & Technology Group, resident in its Boston and Portland offices respectively.

Dunn, Partner, has more than 20 years of experience counseling clients on the selection, screening, prosecution, maintenance, and enforcement of trademarks both domestically and internationally. He has successfully registered hundreds of trademarks for clients in a wide variety of industries, and has successfully litigated numerous trademark disputes both in court and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Prior to joining Verrill, Dunn served as Chair of the Trademark practice at an esteemed Boston firm. Dunn’s wealth of experience extends beyond trademark law and encompasses copyrights and licensing and other commercial contracts as well. He is an active member of the International Trademark Association (INTA), including past roles as member of The Trademark Bulletin Committee; The Trademark Reporter Committee, Commentary subcommittee; and INTA’s Asia & Pacific/Canada Trademark Office Relations and the Examination Subcommittee of the Trademark Office Practices Committee. He was also a member of the U.S. Marine Corps in the 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division. Dunn earned his law degree from Northeastern University School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from Skidmore College.

Lessard, Counsel, has extensive experience providing strategic counseling for clients’ global trademark portfolios. She frequently negotiates and prepares coexistence and settlement agreements, conducts and reviews trademark availability searches, and advises clients of all sizes on the adoption, use, registration, and enforcement of their trademarks domestically and internationally. She also regularly represents clients in complex opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In addition to building a solo practice in Maine, she previously practiced as a trademark attorney at firms located in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., as well as a judicial intern for the Hon. Aida Delgado-Colon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico in San Juan. Lessard earned her law degree from the University of New Hampshire School of Law (formerly the Franklin Pierce Law Center), magna cum laude, and her master’s degree from The George Washington University. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University.

“The addition of two such capable and accomplished attorneys highlights the continuing expansion of the firm’s capabilities in the intellectual property field,” explained Charles Bacall, Chair of Verrill’s Intellectual Property & Technology Group. “They will allow us to better meet the needs of our clients, current and future, in all aspects of trademark and copyright protection and enforcement, adding to our existing capabilities in these areas as well as patent prosecution and enforcement.”