Arminda Bepko’s practice spans a wide range of litigation, advisory, and regulatory matters, with a focus on intellectual property infringement and misappropriation.

She advises on an array of intellectual property matters including trademark, false advertising, copyright, patent infringement, and trade secret misappropriation.

Arminda’s experience in other areas includes representation of financial institutions and corporations in securities, antitrust, and other complex litigation, as well as in criminal and regulatory matters involving the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.  She has conducted numerous internal investigations concerning insider trading, market manipulation, and other securities violations.

Arminda joined the firm in 2004 and became a senior attorney in 2013. Before attending law school, She was a producer for ABCNews and the shows 20/20 and Primetime Live.

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Notable Experience

Intellectual Property

  • Medytox in national litigation alleging misappropriation of trade secrets related to the manufacture and sale of botulinum toxin products, including in securing a significant victory before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

  • A market-leading software company in protecting its blockchain technology against potential infringement and trade secret misappropriation.

  • The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in the protection of its trademarks against potential infringers.

  • A fashion brand in the protection of its intellectual property, including trademark, trade dress, and licensing disputes.

  • A Hong Kong-based integrated advertising technology company in the successful defense of the use of its trademarks in the U.S.

  • People’s United Bank in the defense of a series of trademark lawsuits brought by other banks challenging the use of its name in Massachusetts.

  • The Heisman Trophy Trust in winning preliminary and permanent injunctions against an infringer of the Heisman trademarks.

  • Various organizations on U.S. and international defamation law issues.

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Litigation and Enforcement

  • Midjourney, a prominent generative artificial intelligence platform, in connection with a first-of-its-kind class action lawsuit asserting copyright, Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Lanham Act claims.

  • BHP Billiton and Vale in an investigation into of the collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil, one of the largest environmental disasters in history.

  • A global financial institution in criminal and regulatory investigations regarding allegations of manipulation and collusion in the setting of benchmark reference rates.

  • Sanofi US in successfully defending against a multibillion-dollar monopolization lawsuit brought by a competitor challenging Sanofi US’s loyalty discounts for its anticoagulant drug Lovenox.

  • Barclays in securing the dismissal of several fraud actions challenging the underwriting and sale of collateralized debt obligation notes.

  • Pro bono representation in criminal appeals, including arguing before the New York Court of Appeals and on behalf of immigrants in asylum and removal proceedings.

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Selected Activities

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  • Adjunct Professor, New York Law School
  • Member, the New York Intellectual Property Law Association and the American Bar Association

Publications

“Anthropic Wins Transfer to California in AI Copyright Lawsuit,” Cleary IP and Technology Insights blog, June 28, 2024 (co-authored with Angela L. Dunning, David H. Herrington, and Daniel J. Lee)

“Supreme Court Upholds Refusal to Register “Trump Too Small” Trademark,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, June 21, 2024 (co-authored with Angela L. Dunning, David H. Herrington, and Nathaniel Reynolds) 

“Designing a New Standard for the Obviousness of Design Patents,” Cleary IP and Technology Insights blog, June 4, 2024 (co-authored with Natalie Curry, Angela L. Dunning, and David H. Herrington) 

“Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case Seeking Determination as to Whether the “Discovery Rule” Applies to Copyright Act Claims,” Cleary IP and Technology Insights blog, May 21, 2024 (co-authored with Angela L. Dunning, David H. Herrington, Daniel Ilan, Marcela Robledo, and Christine D’Alessandro)

“Supreme Court Allows Copyright Damages Dating Back More Than Three Years (If The Discovery Rules Applies),” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, May 15, 2024 (co-authored with Angela L. Dunning and Christine D’Alessandro) 

“Fourth Circuit Vacates $1 Billion Damages Award in Music Piracy Lawsuit,” Cleary IP and Technology Insights blog, March 4, 2024 (co-authored with Angela L. Dunning and Brendan J. Cohen) 

“Citing Jack Daniel’s, the Ninth Circuit Reverses Itself and Clarifies the Test for Expressive Trademarks,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, January 25, 2024 (co-authored with Angela L. Dunning, Vishakha S. Joshi, and Amira Perryman) 

“U.S. Supreme Court Clarifies Enablement for Functional Claims in Amgen v. Sanofi,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, May 31, 2023 (co-authored with Daniel Ilan, David H. Herrington, Brendan J. Cohen and Natalie Curry) 

“The Supreme Court’s Decision in Warhol: A Narrow Interpretation of Fair Use With a Potentially Limited Impact,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, May 26, 2023 (co-authored with Daniel Ilan, David Herrington and Brendan J. Cohen)

“The Supreme Court’s Decision in Google v. Oracle: Transformative Use of Popular Code Can Be ‘Fair Use’,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, April 9, 2021 (co-authored with Daniel Ilan, David Herrington, Daniel Montgomery and Leila Mgaloblishvili)

“Supreme Court Holds That Willful Infringement Is Not a Prerequisite for Recovery of Infringer’s Profits in Trademark Infringement Suits,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, April 27, 2020 (co-authored with Daniel Ilan, David Herrington and Michelle Butler)

“Supreme Court Decides Constitutionality and Scope of Inter Partes Review of Patents,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, May 2, 2018 (co-authored with David Herrington).  

“The Top Intellectual Property Decisions of 2017: Their Practical Impact and Strategies for Addressing Them,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, January 22, 2018 (co-authored with Lawrence Friedman and David Herrington).

“The Supreme Court’s Lexmark Ruling on Patent Exhaustion: The Strategic Implications for Patentees,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, June 5, 2017 (co-authored with Lawrence Friedman, David Herrington and Daniel Ilan).

“Supreme Court Limits Where Patent Infringement Lawsuits May Be Filed,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, May 24, 2017 (co-authored with Lawrence Friedman and David Herrington).

“The Supreme Court Limits U.S. Patent Infringement Liability for Goods Sold Overseas,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, February 27, 2017 (co-authored with Lawrence Friedman and David Herrington)

“Notable IP Decisions of 2016, and a Look Ahead to 2017,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, February 16, 2017 (co-authored with Lawrence Friedman and David Herrington)

“President Obama Signs the First Federal Trade Secrets Law, Supplementing State Law Protections Against Trade Secret Misappropriation,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, May 13, 2016 (co-authored by Lawrence Friedman and David Herrington)

“Congress Passes the First Federal Trade Secrets Law,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, May 2, 2016 (co-authored with Lawrence Friedman and David Herrington)

“Fourth Circuit Permits Foreign Trademark Owner to Assert Lanham Act Claims,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, April 21, 2016 (co-authored with Lawrence Friedman, David Herrington and Thomas Kessler)

“Trademark Battles in the Banking Field: When a Bank Acquisition Gives Rise to a Trademark Dispute,” Banking Law Journal, 2009 (co-authored with David H. Herrington)

“A Necessary and Proper Role for Federal Courts in Prison Reform: The Benjamin v. Malcolm Consent Decrees,” 52 N.Y.L. Sch. L. Rev. 3, 2007 (co-authored with Hon. Harold Baer, Jr.)

“Public Availability or Practical Obscurity: The Debate Over Public Access to Court Records on the Internet,” 49 N.Y.L. Sch. L. Rev. 967, 2005

“A State-by-State Comparison of Spam Laws,” 13 Media L. & Pol’y 20, 2004