Andrew P. Bridges, Partner

Andrew Bridges is a partner in the firm’s San Francisco office who litigates and counsels clients in high-stakes and complex commercial matters relating primarily to trademark, copyright, advertising, consumer protection, unfair competition, trade secrets, media, Internet regulation, and e-commerce law. He is vice chair of the firm’s intellectual property practice and leads the firm’s non-patent intellectual property efforts.

Mr. Bridges ranks nationally among the foremost IP litigators, with important victories in trial and appellate courts as lead counsel in notable intellectual property cases, including:

• the defense of the first consumer MP3 player (the Rio) against efforts by the recording industry to ban its introduction under the Audio Home Recording Act
• the defense of CNET Networks’ launch of the Snap! Online portal against trademark claims by Snap-On Tools
• the defense of ClearPlay in Huntsman v. Soderbergh, protecting the introduction of DVD player software for family-friendly filtered playback of major motion picture DVDs against copyright and trademark challenges by Hollywood studios and directors
• the defense of Stanford Microdevices in a challenge to its name, during its initial public offering, by Stanford University
• the defense of MasterCard in Perfect 10 v. Visa and MasterCard, a landmark decision on secondary liability of credit card companies under copyright and trademark law, in both the trial appellate courts (arguing for all defendants)
• the defense of Google in Perfect 10 v. Google and Perfect 10 v. Amazon.com, a landmark decision on fair use, the display and distribution rights under copyright law, and secondary liability under copyright law as applied to search engines

Mr. Bridges also represented the Digital Media Association in its amicus curiae brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals in the A&M Records v. Napster case, as well as the Consumer Electronics Association, Information Technology Association of America, and other trade associations in an amicus curiae brief before the trial court in Paramount Pictures v. ReplayTV. He was original lead counsel defending StreamCast Networks (the producer of the Morpheus P2P communication software) in the landmark case brought by motion picture studios and record labels in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios v. Grokster.

A number of his cases are “bet-the-industry,” in that an entirely new business model or category of technology is under attack. He has built a reputation as “an exceptionally bright attorney who gets interesting cases,” according to Chambers USA 2008, which also describes him as a ”trademark genius.”

His litigation docket includes representation of some of the best-known software, media, and Internet companies, as well as start-ups and fast-growing technology and consumer products companies.

On the counseling front, Mr. Bridges assists clients in numerous industries, particularly in consumer products, technology, and e-commerce, with branding portfolio and advertising strategies, business plan risk management strategies, and litigation risk avoidance. He has a broad understanding of global copyright, branding, and e-commerce issues with connections to an extensive network of local counsel around the world.

In addition, Mr. Bridges serves as an early neutral evaluator for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and as a domain name arbitrator for the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva.

Honors and Awards

Mr. Bridges has been honored in lists of leading lawyers in e-commerce, trademark law, and in Silicon Valley. His recognitions include The Daily Journal’s “Top 100 Lawyers in California” and “Fifty Leading IP Litigators in California” lists in 2008; Chambers USA, inclusion in Band 1 in California for Intellectual Property – Trademarks, Copyright and Trade Secrets; The Best Lawyers in America in intellectual property law; and Legal Media Group’s Experts Guide — Best of the Best 2007, as one of the top trademark attorneys worldwide. He has been profiled in American Lawyer and the San Francisco Daily Journal and has made numerous media appearances.

Activities

Mr. Bridges serves as an early neutral evaluator for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (2001-present) and as an arbitrator on the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Domain Name Disputes Panel (1999-present).

Mr. Bridges is a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA) and previously chaired its Emerging Issues Committee, Fair Use and Other Boundaries Subcommittee (2004-present) and its Issues and Policy Committee, Emerging Issues Subcommittee (2000-present). He previously served on the INTA’s President’s Select Committee on the Federal Trademark Dilution Act (2003), Brief Amicus Subcommittee (1996-1999), and USPTO Committee (1992-1996). He also served as a trustee of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A., is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, and is a member of the International Advisory Board of Southwestern University School of Law’s National Institute of Entertainment and Media Law. Additionally, Mr. Bridges was an invited participant in an American Law Institute project on digital information law in 2003.

Mr. Bridges has been a guest lecturer or presenter at a variety of classes, clinics, or conferences at numerous law schools, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, Michigan, Northwestern, Boalt Hall (Berkeley), Fordham, Loyola (New Orleans), University of San Francisco, and Southwestern, as well as The University of Amsterdam. He has been a featured speaker or panelist at conferences of the Federal Judicial Center, Copyright Office of the United States, American Bar Association, State Bar of California, Copyright Society of the USA, International Trademark Association, Practising Law Institute, and many other organizations.

He currently serves on the board of trustees of The American School of Classical Studies at Athens and the vestry of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Palo Alto, Calif.; he previously served on the board of the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. His previous professional and community activities include: Judge, Ecclesiastical Court of the [Episcopal] Diocese of California, 1996-2000; Editorial Board, Intellectual Property Strategist, 1995-2001; Director, Hellenic Law Society of Northern California, 1989-1994; and Co-chair, Federal Courts Committee, Bar Association of San Francisco, 1989-1991.

Education

Speeches and Publications

Among his many speaking engagements are: speaker, “Fair Use: Copyright’s Impediment or Copyright’s Fulfillment?” April 10, 2009, 7th Annual Conference on Recent Developments in Intellectual Property Law, Golden Gate University, San Francisco; panelist, “Privacy & Free Speech It’s Good for Business,” April 7, 2009, Stanford Law School; moderator, “Survey Evidence in Trademark Disputes,” January 2009, presented by the International Trademark Association in San Francisco; panelist, “Is IP a Property Right? A Debate,” the State Bar of California’s Intellectual Property Law Section — 33rd Annual IP Institute, November 2008; “Litigating in the Converged World: When DRM Fails and Consumers Overreach,” the Practising Law Institute’s Technology and Entertainment Convergence 2008 conference, September 2008; panelist, “Copyright, DMCA Safe Harbors, and Monetizing Nontraditional Content,” the Fifth Annual Ecommerce Best Practices Conference, June 2008; “Is Intellectual Property Dead?” Association of the Bar of the City of New York, February 2008; the O’Reilly “Tools of Change” Conference, February 2008; guest speaker in Advanced Topics in Copyright Law seminar, Columbia Law School, February 2008; panelist and chair, Copyright Society of the USA annual and mid-winter meetings, 2004-2005; advocate in MGM v. Grokster mock argument at “Copyright Office Comes to California,” February-March 2005; panelist at the ABA Intellectual Property Law Section 2005 Summer Conference, June 2005; speaker on “Copyright Law for Publishers and Authors,” Independent Press Association/National Writers Guild, San Francisco, 2004; speaker on “Anonymity and Its Discontents,” Practising Law Institute, 2004; “Copyright and the Music Industry: Digital Dilemmas,” Institute for Information Law, University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands), July 2003; featured speaker at Intellectual Property Federal Judicial Education Program, May 2003; “U.S. Developments in Internet Copyright Litigation,” Fordham International Intellectual Property Law and Policy Conference, April 2003; featured speaker in debate over copyright, trademark, and entertainment law, Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, April 2003; “Fair Use in the Twenty-First Century,” at Copyright Office Comes to California Conference, March 2003; “What Is Dilution,” Trademark Dilution Forum 2003, March 2003; panelist at “From Class Act to Class Action,” Burst of the Bubble: Lessons and Opportunities from the Dot-com Collapse Conference, October 2002; “Copyright Liabilities for New Technologies,” Intellectual Property Retreat for Federal Judges, June 2002; panelist at “Legal Issues: Evolving Theories of Protection vs. Open Networks,” Information, Technology, and Networks Institute, June 2002; keynote speaker at Digital Landscapes: Redrawing the Boundaries in Entertainment, Media, and the Law Conference, April 2002; panelist at Digital Content-File-Sharing Technology in Napster’s Wake: The Challenge for Copyright Law, April 2002; “Post-Napster Issues in Litigation,” International Intellectual Property Law and Policy Conference, April 2002; panelist at “Copyright Law: The Last Ten Years and a Look at What Lies Ahead,” International Intellectual Property Law and Policy Conference, April 2002; “Domain Names as Trademarks,” Trademark Enforcement: Different Rules in Different Countries, December 2001; “2001 in Review,” Trademarks in Cyberspace Conference, October 2001; “Copyright Hot Topics,” Thomson & Thomson, October 2001; panelist at Convergence: Mapping the Intersection of the Online and Offline Worlds, Harvard Journal of Law and Technology Symposium, April 2001; moderator at “Copyright and Related Rights,” International Intellectual Property and Law Conference, April 2001; “Building Business Plans in an Uncertain Legal Environment: Aiming Plans at Moving Targets,” eRisk Management Conference, November 2000; “Marketing and the Law,” Third Annual Marketing and Sales Conference for Start-up Internet and Software Companies, July 2000 (also presented at previous annual conferences in June 1999 and September 1998); “Litigation Issues for the e-Commerce Company — From the Firing Line: Critical IP Issues for the Start-up Company,” State Bar of California Intellectual Property Section 2000 Spring Program, May 2000; “Digital Distribution of Music,” American Conference Institute, February 2000; “Music and the Internet,” Association Litteraire et Artistique Internationale Canadian Chapter, Toronto, December 1999; “Music and the Internet,” IBC UK Conferences, London, December 1999; panelist at Recording Industry Association of America v. Diamond Multimedia Systems, Loyola Law School, April 1999; “Strategic Issues in Trademark Law,” Strategic Intellectual Property Planning Conference, April 1998; “Jurisdictional Issues and the Internet” at Practising Law Institute program on “Litigating Copyright, Trademark and Unfair Competition Cases for the Experienced Practitioner,” December 1997; “Comparative Advertising under United States Law” at Marques (Association of European Trademark Proprietors) Conference, September 1997; “Creative Strategies for Protection of Intellectual Property,” American Bar Association annual convention, August 1997; “The European Community Trade Mark,” American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Conference, June 1997; “International Considerations in Licensing,” Practising Law Institute seminar on “Drafting Licensing Agreements,” January 1997; “Discovery of Electronic Data in Litigation,” International Trademark Association mid-year meeting, November 1995; “Alternative Theories and Defenses,” Practising Law Institute seminar on “Advanced Seminar on Trademark Law,” April 1995; “Recent Developments in Trademark Law,” Practising Law Institute seminar on “Intellectual Property Update,” January 1994; “Basic Federal Practice” programs of California Continuing Education of the Bar, San Francisco and Monterey, November 1992 and November 1990.

In addition, Mr. Bridges is the author or co-author of: “Court Control,” Intellectual Property Supp. to S.F. Daily Journal, April 9, 2008; “Cyber-Branding Holds Allure, Danger,” Intellectual Property Supp. to S.F. Daily Journal, September 29, 1998; “Expert Advice,” California State Bar Journal, October 1996; and “Insurance Coverage for Trademark Litigation,” Intellectual Property Strategist, October 1995.