Mitchell Stabbe has over thirty years of experience in virtually all aspects of trademark law. Over the course of his career, Mitch has experienced numerous changes in trademark law and in technology, with the former often several steps behind the latter. Today, his practice focuses on the ever-evolving interplay between trademarks and the Internet. Over the last few years, for example, Mitch has been advising clients and providing comments to ICANN concerning the upcoming roll-out of hundreds of new generic top level domains (gTLDs) and the protections available to brand owners against cybersquatting and other domain name abuses.
Mitch also counsels clients on the availability and registration of trademarks and service marks and has prosecuted over a thousand applications before the US Patent and Trademark Office. He also is experienced in drafting and negotiating contracts, licenses, assignments and security interests involving intellectual property rights.
Mitch has litigated numerous trademark and copyright infringement and unfair competition civil actions in federal court, including actions against infringers and gray market importers, as well as adversary proceedings in federal court and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). In addition, he has successfully prosecuted over fifty claims under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) to compel the transfer of domain names registered in bad faith.
He has represented companies from a wide array of industries, including communications, media, real estate leasing, banking, health care, pharmaceuticals, aircraft manufacture, hotels and resorts, cigars and perishable agricultural commodities.
Mitch Stabbe was favorably mentioned in the 2011 edition of The Legal 500.
Notable Experience
· Defeated a trademark claim made against a US e-commerce client by a Canadian company with the same name which argued that the US company's online app for its customers should be removed from iTunes
· On behalf of a national trade association, Mitch drafted comments on the proposals by ICANN for trademark protection mechanisms in the new gTLD program
· Defended a trademark infringement claim in federal court brought against a regional cable company after it adopted a new name that matched the second level domain name of a company in a different business, but was receiving hundreds of misdirected e-mails each month.
· In less than a week, Mitch recovered the domain name for an educational institution that was in the process of being sold from the webmaster who had registered it in his own name and refused to transfer the domain name unless he was paid $1 million from the sales proceeds.
· On behalf of a small premium cigar manufacturer whose family name is the company's house mark, Mitch obtained a preliminary injunction against a large cigar manufacturer who hired the brother of the client's founder and named a cigar line after him
Recent Speaking Engagements and Publications
· "Protect Your Rights" Preparing for the Impact of New gTLDs on Domain Name Management in the United States," author, World Trademark Review (June/July 2012).
· "Supreme Court Upholds Law Restoring Copyright Protection to Foreign Works," co-author, Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP Client Advisory (2012).
· "Coming Soon - For Better or Worse - Unlimited Numbers of New Generic Top Level Domains," author, Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP Client Advisory (2011).
· "Keyword Advertising and Trademark Infringement," co-presenter, Strafford CLE Webinar (2010).
· "Keyword Advertising: To Buy or Not to Buy?," Media Law Resource Center (MLRC) Review (2007).
· "You've Got to Fight for Your Right to Trademark," American Journalism Review (2006).
· "Fair or Foul? Using Sports Teams' Trademarks Can Cost The Media Money," American Journalism Review (2005).
News & Publications
January 2012, Client Advisory - Supreme Court Upholds Law Restoring Copyright Protection to Foreign Works
December 2011, Advisory - Coming Soon - For Better or Worse - Unlimited Numbers of New Generic Top Level Domains
September 21, 2011, Law360 Covers Mitchell Stabbe's Arrival as IP Partner in Washington, DC
September 19, 2011, Mitchell Stabbe to Join Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge as IP Partner in Washington, DC
Before Edwards Wildman
Mitch Stabbe began his career with a Washington, D.C. litigation and regulatory firm which merged with Holland & Knight to open that firm's first non-Florida office. Mitch became partner and came to head the firm's trademark practice. In 1997, Mitch joined the Washington, D.C. firm of Dow Lohnes, where he also led the firm's trademark practice and represented some of the country's largest media companies. In 2011, Mitch joined Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP to expand the Firm's trademark practice in Washington, D.C.
Besides Edwards Wildman
As in When Harry Met Sally, Mitch met his future wife in college and they were friends for fifteen years before starting to date. They are now married and have a family with three children. In his spare time, Mitch enjoys reading mystery and suspense novels, historical fiction and biographies of political figures.
Industries
· Broadcasting
· Cable
· Technology
· Banking & Financial Institutions
· Aviation and Aerospace
· Tax-Exempt Organizations
· Retail Industry & Consumer Products
· Food and Agriculture
· Healthcare
Memberships
· International Trademark Association (INTA)