Overview
Richard (“Rick”) M. Bemben is a director in Sterne Kessler’s Electronics Practice Group and a Co-Chair of the firm’s PTAB Practice. He is a recognized leader in post-grant proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Over the last decade, Rick has been counsel in over 130 PTAB proceedings—including inter partes reviews, post-grant reviews, and covered business method reviews. He has also been counsel in more than a dozen related Federal Circuit appeals. In 2023, Patexia ranked Rick as one of the most active and best performing PTAB attorneys over the five-year period from July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2023. Notably, he was ranked as the 2nd Best Performing PTAB Attorney Representing Patent Owners, and within the Top 50 Best Performing PTAB Attorneys Overall (representing Petitioners or Patent Owners) during this five-year period.
Rick often speaks and publishes on patent- and PTAB-related topics. For example, he served as Co-Editor of Sterne Kessler’s “2023 PTAB Year in Review: Analysis & Trends” report, which synthesizes key events and decisions that occurred at the PTAB and provides detailed analysis to serve as a helpful reference for those who practice before or adjacent to the PTAB. He is also contributing author of Patent Office Litigation, Second Edition, which published in 2017.
Rick’s practice also includes worldwide patent portfolio development and providing clients with strategic advice on a variety of issues related to intellectual property, including handling pre-suit demand letters, conducting freedom-to-operate studies, and implementing other defensive strategies. He has experience with a wide range of computer and electrical technologies, including microelectronics and semiconductor fabrication, networking and mobile communications, software, green technologies (GreenTech), including electric vehicle charging systems and battery energy storage systems, financial technologies (FinTech), and medical technologies (MedTech).
Prior to practicing as an attorney, Rick served as a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for about six years, examining utility patent applications related to digital cameras, image sensors, optics, image processing hardware and software, camera phones, smartphones and smartphone applications, motion capture, target tracking, stop-motion animation, medical devices (e.g., endoscopes), vehicle navigation, and touchscreens and touchscreen manipulation. His experience as an examiner provides valuable insight into his multi-faceted practice.
Rick received his J.D., with honors, from The George Washington University Law School where he also was a Thurgood Marshall Scholar. He received his B.S., magna cum laude, in computer engineering, and his M.S. in electrical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Rick’s graduate work included developing and co-teaching an advanced semiconductor processing course for graduate and upper-level undergraduate students. The course provides a hands-on overview of integrated circuit design and fabrication—from computer-aided circuit layout to semiconductor fabrication to electrical testing—and continues to be offered at Virginia Tech to students pursuing degrees in microelectronics.
Education
- J.D., The George Washington University Law School, with honors, Thurgood Marshall Scholar
- M.S., Electrical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- B.S., Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, magna cum laude