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Managing Partner at Partridge IP Law
Joined on August 12, 2004
Total Post Views: 252,568
| About |
Mark V.B. Partridge is the founder of Partridge IP Law P.C., a Chicago-based firm with a global practice helping businesses protect brands, content and ideas.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, he has more than 30 years of experience with litigation and transactions involving trademarks, copyright, and internet issues.
Major corporate clients represented by Mr. Partridge include PepsiCo, Kraft, Sun Microsystems, Nabisco, MasterCard, Prudential, and Navistar. He has also represented many small and mid-sized businesses, working directly with senior management and entrepreneurs on licensing transactions, litigation, international IP protection, and the resolution of disputes.
As an experienced trial lawyer, Mr. Partridge has litigated federal court cases throughout the United States involving trademarks, copyrights, and related issues. Mr. Partridge is also experienced in the use of ADR to resolve disputes, and he serves as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and as a Lanham Act mediator in Illinois Federal Court.
Well-known for his expertise on internet matters, Mr. Partridge was selected by the World Intellectual Property Organization as an expert on the Internet Domain Name Process in 1998. As a WIPO Panelist, Mr. Partridge has issued more than 180 UDRP decisions, including five of the most frequently cited cases.
Mr. Partridge is the author of many articles and the books Trademark and Copyright Litigation (Oxford University Press 2011); Alternative Dispute Resolution: An Essential Competency for Lawyers (Oxford University Press 2009); and Guiding Rights: Trademarks, Copyrights and the Internet (2003). He has served as a director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), president of the Lawyers Club of Chicago, and an adjunct professor at the John Marshall Law School, where he has taught advanced courses in trademark law, litigation, and transactions since 1987. He has been a frequent speaker on intellectual property issues at programs sponsored by many leading law schools, including the University of San Francisco, University of Southern California, DePaul University, University of Akron, Loyola University, and Cardozo Law School.
Except where otherwise noted, all postings by Mark Partridge on CircleID are licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Saipan DataCom, Inc.’s upcoming late March 2009 open launch of chi.mp (“Content Hub & Identity Management Platform) has implications for trademark holders that seem to have gone unnoticed to date. Chi.mp is a free platform that enables social network users to create social hubs on their own stand-alone hosted Web sites... As an attorney representing both trademark owners and domain name registries, I see chi.mp as a unique situation. more
My Pattishall colleagues Brett August, Bradley Cohn and Alexis Payne recently won another round in a closely watched lawsuit involving Google and others regarding allegedly unfair use of domain names. The plaintiffs had attempted to bring a class action against multiple defendants for purported trademark infringement, cybersquatting and deceptive trade practices. more
This is serious. I'm not joking. You can look it up. Morgan Stanley brought a UDRP action involving the domain name 'mymorganstaleyplatinum.com' against a registrant identified as "Meow ("Respondent"), Baroness Penelope Cat of Nash DCB, Ashbed Barn, Boraston Track, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire WR15 8LQ, GB." The decision summarizes the response... more
Jacuzzi, Inc., owner of rights in the mark JACUZZI, challenged the domain name jacuzzi.net.au in this first WIPO decision involving the .au domain. The Australian respondent had used the JACUZZI name for nearly 15 years. more
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., of Birmingham, Alabama, challenged registration of domain name www.biocrystpharmaceuticals.com. Respondent used domain name to criticize the Complainant's business (BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Kumar Patel, Case No. D2005-0674). Panelist Daniel Gervais denied relief, stating... more
The resale of genuine products presents particular difficulties in domain name disputes, testing the application of fair use doctrine. Several domain name disputes involving the resale of event tickets illustrate the point. I served as a panelist in one such case The Orange Bowl Committee, Inc. v. Front and Center Tickets, Inc., D2004-0947 (WIPO 2005). The decision, which issued with a dissent, explored fair use in the domain name context and addressed several related ticket resale disputes. more
A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit confirms that "commercial use" by the defendant is required for a Lanham Act trademark or dilution claim, but is not required in a cybersquatting claim under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). Michael Kremer, a dissatisfied hair transplant patient, used the domain name www.BosleyMedical.com as a site critical to the Bosley Medical Institute, a hair transplant clinic. Bosley sued. The district court entered summary judgment for Kremer on the grounds that his conduct was not commercial... more
We've previously noted here the challenge of dealing with domain name disputes based on personal names, particularly in the political arena. Now that the campaigns are over and all are taking a deep breath, we can reflect back on one of the domain name disputes arising in the political campaign this year for the office of State's Attorney in Will County Illinois. more
Danish businessman Joacim Bruus-Jensen challenged the domain name www.joacimbruus-jensen.com in ICANN UDRP proceeding. He failed to prove enforceable trademark rights in his name and was denied relief in this decision by Panelist Derek Minus. Joacim Bruus-Jensen v. John Adamsen, Case No. D2004-0458 (WIPO Sept.29, 2004). The case should be considered before seeking to use the ICANN UDRP to take action based on the personal name of a business executive. more
Recent attention to the Eighth Circuit decision in Coca-Cola v. Purdy brings to mind the class of sometimes difficult cases involving the use of another's trademark as a domain name for criticism. An ICANN UDRP decision, Full Sail Inc. v. Ryan Spevack, Case No. D2003-0502 (WIPO October 3, 2003), by Mark VB Partridge, presiding panelist, with Frederick M. Abbott and G. Gervaise Davis III, included a review and analysis of the "your trademark sucks.com" cases that remains a useful reference worthy (I hope) of the lengthy quote below. more
When domain name conflicts between manufacturers and distributors rest on contractual disputes over the use of the trademark owners' marks, ICANN UDRP panels have frequently denied relief. See generally the cases cited and discussed in Western Holdings, LLC v. JPC Enterprise, LLC d/b/a Cutting Edge Fitness and d/b/a Strivectin SD Sales & Distribution, D2004-0426 (WIPO August 5, 2004) by Mark Partridge as sole panelist. The decision summarizes other ICANN UDRP decisions involving contractual disputes. For instance... more
Thinking about the www.kerryedwards.com auction reminds one of the uneasy relationship between personal names, politics and cybersquatting. When reporters learned that the domain name was taken by Kerry Edwards, the Indiana bail bondsman, at least some headlines were quick to brand Mr. Edwards' conduct as cybersquatting. The Chicago Sun-Times, for example, ran the headline "Kerry Edwards is the Name, Cybersquatting is the Game." Mr. Edwards, of course, had registered his own name as a domain name long before Kerry picked Edwards as a running mate. more
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