Home Mediation Mediators

Donald F. Parsons, Jr.

Donald F. Parsons, Jr., became a Vice Chancellor of the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware on October 22, 2003. He is a 1977 graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and also received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Lehigh University. Before joining the Court of Chancery, he spent over twenty-four years at the firm of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell in Wilmington, Delaware, where he was a senior partner. While in private practice, he specialized in intellectual property litigation, participated in numerous jury and nonjury patent trials, and wrote several papers relating to intellectual property law. Before joining Morris, Nichols in 1979, Vice Chancellor Parsons clerked for the Honorable James L. Latchum of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. He also is a Past President of the Delaware State Bar Association.

Court of Chancery
New Castle County Courthouse
500 N. King Street, Suite 11400
Wilmington, Delaware 19801-3734
(302) 255-0509

Legal Employment

October 2003 - Present: Vice Chancellor - Court of Chancery August 1979 - October 2003: Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell. Partner since 1985. Specialize in intellectual property litigation and other matters relating to patents, trade secrets, trademarks and copyrights. August 1977 - August 1979: Law Clerk to the Honorable James L. Latchum, United States District Court Judge for the District of Delaware.

Professional Associations and Committees

Appellate Mediation Pilot Program

Mediator (06/2006-present)

Delaware State Bar Association (1977-present)

President (1999-2000)
President-Elect (1998-1999)
Vice President At Large (1997-1998)
Vice President, New Castle County (1996-1997)
Secretary (1995-96)
Assistant Secretary (1994-95)
Member of Executive Committee (1992-2001)
Co-Chair of Professional Guidance Committee (2002-2003)
Chair of standing Committee on Provision of Legal Services to Low Income People (1996-1998)
Chair of Intellectual Property Law Section (1990-93)

Delaware Bar Foundation

Member of Board of Directors (2000-2003)
Chair of Endowment Committee (2001-2003)

Widener University School of Law

Board of Overseers (2001-present)

Philadelphia Intellectual Property Law Association

Litigation Committee
Board of Governors (1992-1994)

American Bar Association (1979-present)

Litigation Section
Committee on Intellectual Property Litigation
Reporter for Third Circuit in quarterly Intellectual Property Litigation newsletter (1991-2003)

Intellectual Property Law Section
Committee 205 on Unfair Competition - Trade Identity
Author of annual Third Circuit report (1990-92) Participation in Study on Right of Publicity (1994)

American Intellectual Property Law Association (1985–present)

Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee

Federal Circuit Bar Association (2000-2003)

Intellectual Property Owners Association (2001-present)

IP Licensing Committee

International Trademark Association (approx. 1990-1998)

Coordinated preparation and updating of chapter on Delaware law in book entitled, State Trademark and Unfair Competition Law (Clark Boardman) (1990-2003)

American Judicature Society (1979-present)

Delaware Superior Court Mediator

Other Professional Activities and Recognition

Co-Chair of Combined Campaign for Justice in 1999 and 2000 to raise funds to benefit the three major providers of legal services to the poor in Delaware. In July, 2000, the Legal Services Committee of the American Bar Association awarded its Harrison Tweed Award to the DSBA for its efforts in forming and implementing the Combined Campaign for Justice.

Recipient of Delaware State Bar Association's Community Service Award, June 1, 1999.

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Woodward/White, Inc. (1994-present) for Intellectual Property Law.

Included in list of Delaware's top 10 litigators published in The National Law Journal, May 3, 1999.

Named one of Delaware's best intellectual property lawyers in informal surveys of Delaware attorneys published in Delaware Today in 1996 and 1999.

Member of the Drafting Committee of the Local Rules of Civil Practice for the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (1980-85).

Civic Activities

1986 - Present	Board of Directors of Milton & Hattie Kutz Home (a non-profit nursing home) Secretary (1988-90) President-Elect (1991) President (1992-94) Co-Chair of Fundraising Campaign for $3.6 million capital project (1994-1995)
1986 - Present: Jewish Federation of Delaware	Task Force on Aging Chairperson (1988-91) Board of Directors (1992-present) Assistant Secretary (1995) Vice President (1996-1998 and 2000-2002) Annual Campaign Chair (2002-2003) Allocations Committee Co-Chair (2003-Present)
1987 - Present: United Way of Delaware	Chairperson of Healthcare Subcommittee of Government Relations Committee (1989-90) Chairperson of Government Relations Committee (1991-1992); Member (1993-1995) Vice Chair of Attorneys Division Campaign (1998-Present)
1988 - 1989	Formed Coalition for a More Equitable Medicaid System, which included most of the non-profit nursing homes in Delaware, and successfully lobbied for an improvement in Delaware's Medicaid eligibility criteria.
2003 - Present	Rotary Club of Wilmington

Education

Lehigh University B.S. in Electrical Engineering 1970 M.A. in Education 1972

Georgetown University Law Center J.D. 1977

Georgetown Law Journal, Case & Notes Editor

Admitted to Delaware Bar in November 1977.

Registered patent attorney - admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1985.

Publications

"Solving the Mystery of Patentees' "Collective Enthusiasm" for Delaware", Delaware Law Review, Vol. 7, No. 2 (2004), co-authored with Jack Blumenfeld, Mary B. Graham and Leslie Polizoti.

"The Intersection of Patent Law and Bankruptcy: What Every Practitioner Should Know," 18 Delaware Lawyer No. 4 (Winter 2000), co-authored with John D. Pirnot.

"Observations on the Evolving Procedures for Conducting Markman Hearings"
presented at the January 22, 1998 meeting of the American Intellectual Property Law Association Federal Litigation Committee
updated and revised version presented on June 19, 1998 to the Association of Corporate Patent Counsel

"Conducting Discovery Abroad – The Theory and Reality", published in Selected Legal Papers, vol. XVI, no. 2 of the American Intellectual Property Law Association ("AIPLA") October 1997. Based on a presentation made at the AIPLA Annual Meeting in the summer of 1997 in Washington, D.C.

"Technological Tools for Civil Litigation," 14 Delaware Lawyer No. 4 (Winter 1996), co-authored with Lisa K.W. Crossland.

"Protecting Confidential Information in Litigation in the Federal Courts" presented at Japan Federation of Bar Associations Visit to Wilmington, Delaware, December 16-17, 1993 sponsored by Delaware State Bar Association, Delaware Court of Chancery and U.S. District Court/District of Delaware, co-authored with William J. Marsden, Jr.

"Functionality - An Issue Affecting Trademarks, Trade Dress, Copyrights, and Design Patents" presented at December 1991 DSBA CLE program, co-authored with Karen A. Jacobs, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell.

"An Introduction to Trademark Law," presented at November 1990 DSBA CLE program, co-authored with Professor Eugene Grimm, Widener University School of Law.

Chapter on Delaware in the International Trademark Association's Treatise State Trademark and Unfair Competition Law (Clark Boardman 1989 - Present)

"Senior Judge Caleb M. Wright's Contributions to the Trial of Complex Patent Cases", 7 Delaware Lawyer No. 3 (Mar. 1989), co-authored with Arthur G. Connolly, Sr.

"Use of Protective Orders in Litigation", 1987 AIPLA Selected Legal Papers, Vol. V, No. 2.