Brendan P. McFeely

Brendan focuses his practice on intellectual property transactions, including licensing, distribution, technology transactions, and the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and financings. He has served as lead intellectual property counsel on M&A transactions totaling billions of dollars. In those deals, he negotiated the intellectual property provisions of merger, stock purchase, and asset purchase agreements and managed intellectual property due diligence. He also negotiates transition services agreements. His licensing work includes trademark, technology, and content licenses for licensors and licensees, as well as distribution agreements in the apparel and luxury goods sectors. His commercial work includes research and development, joint development, supply, and teaming agreements. His financing work covers intellectual property security agreements and the intellectual property provisions of credit agreements.

Brendan has represented biotechnology, publishing, apparel and footwear, consumer products, defense, hospitality, and entertainment companies in transactional matters. He advises consumer products companies on their e-commerce businesses, including data privacy compliance. He also counsels clients on trademark and copyright matters, including clearance, prosecution, portfolio management, infringement, and unfair competition.

Brendan is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, where he learned the valuable lesson of how to “speak engineer.” Before attending Fordham University School of Law, he worked in the publishing industry. He has authored several articles on trademark and copyright law. Since 2004, Brendan has served standing-room-only audiences as the legal expert on San Diego Comic-Con’s longest-running panel on breaking into the entertainment industry, alongside studio executives, top talent agents, showrunners, writers, animators, and directors. Brendan joined Michael Best with the New York team of Kane Kessler, P.C.

Brendan joined Michael Best with the New York team of Kane Kessler, P.C. 

Solutions in action

M&A and Divestitures

• Served as lead intellectual property counsel to a publicly traded, multi-billion-dollar consumer products company on acquisitions of intellectual property assets, including major national brands, valued at up to $3 billion. Negotiated and drafted the intellectual property provisions of merger agreements, stock purchase agreements, and asset purchase agreements, and managed the intellectual property due diligence team.
• Served as lead intellectual property counsel to a publicly traded, multi-billion-dollar defense, military, and police contractor on acquisitions valued at up to $1.5 billion. Negotiated and drafted the intellectual property provisions of merger agreements, stock purchase agreements, and asset purchase agreements, and managed the intellectual property due diligence team.
• Served as lead intellectual property counsel for the sale of the western hemisphere business of a globally known sweetener brand, involving thorny issues of cross-border transactions, competition restrictions, and the final disposition of ownership of the key .com URL. 
• Served as lead counsel to a New York City-based footwear company with more than $500 million in revenue on its acquisitions of brands.
• Represented a publicly traded consumer products company in the sale of substantially all of its assets, including an international portfolio of patents and trademarks.
• Represented a children’s book publisher in the sale of its business, author negotiations, and trademark matters.
• Drafts and negotiates transition services agreements for buyers and sellers in acquisitions and divestitures.

Licensing and Distribution

• Serves as lead intellectual property counsel to a luxury apparel brand, including on its collaborations with other high-end brands.
• Represented an internationally recognized luxury goods company in licensing its trademarks and copyrights for apparel, marketing, and mass-market automotive branding.
• Drafts and negotiates distribution agreements for apparel and luxury goods companies.
• Represented the New York City-based footwear company, as licensee, in negotiating licenses for well-known apparel brands.
• Served as lead counsel to an apparel and accessories manufacturer on licensor-side and licensee-side licensing of luxury and mid-range brands.
• Served as lead counsel to a brand licensing company in developing a girls’ and juniors’ lifestyle apparel and accessories brand from the ground up, including trademark development, clearance and prosecution, licensing, and licensee disputes.
• Served as lead licensing counsel to a toy company holding licenses for brands including Fisher-Price and CSI.
• Represented the parent company of an international hospitality business in worldwide licensing and intellectual property management.

Technology Transactions

• Drafted and negotiated technology licenses, as licensor and licensee, for a multi-billion-dollar defense, military, and police contractor, from large-scale military contracts to discrete patent, technology, and software licenses.
• Represented a biotechnology company in the biodegradable plastics field in drafting and negotiating research and development, joint development, and supply agreements, intellectual property security agreements under its credit facility, and the intellectual property provisions of its credit agreements.
• Drafts and negotiates research and development agreements, joint development agreements, and teaming agreements.

E-Commerce and Data Privacy

• Advises consumer products companies on their e-commerce businesses, including drafting website terms of use and privacy policies, negotiating vendor and platform agreements, and reviewing data privacy compliance.

Publishing and entertainment

• Represented a comic book publisher in content-acquisition and licensing transactions, authorship and publicity rights agreements with prominent film directors and personalities, and service and employment agreements with creative staff and freelancers.
• Represented independent filmmakers and authors in production, distribution, work-for-hire, and option and development agreements.

Brand protection

• Maintains trademark portfolios for a major direct-marketing company, a defense, military, and police contractor, a world-famous men’s apparel brand, a well-known fashion retailer, and an international hospitality group.