Marksmen Names Russell Pangborn new CEO

Brand protection firm Marksmen, Inc.  announced that founder Ken Taylor will become a consultant to the company as Russell Pangborn takes over at the helm. Pangborn previously had been at Microsoft where he was their Assistant General Counsel in charge of trademarks.

The company put out a press release:

Marksmen, Inc., a worldwide leader in brand protection services, today named Russell Pangborn chief executive officer effective immediately. He succeeds Ken Taylor, founder of the company who becomes a consultant to the firm.

Pangborn joins Marksmen from Microsoft where he served as Assistant General Counsel in charge of trademarks. At Marksmen, he will guide the next stage of the firm’s growth using his intimate knowledge of the services and technology solutions trademark owners need for the protection and enforcement of their valuable intellectual property. He will continue to be a strong industry advocate as he has done in the past as Officer and Board Member of the International Trademark Association (INTA), a member of the Implementation Recommendation Team (IRT) for ICANN’s new gTLD Program, an active member of the Intellectual Property Constituency in ICANN, and co-founder of the McCarthy Institute-Microsoft annual symposium on Trademark Law and Its Challenges.

“As trademark owners face increasing threats to their brands from around the world and the playing field isgrowing with the expansion of the Internet name space, there is no better person than Russ Pangborn to guide the next phase of Marksmen’s development,” said Jeff Crapo, Chairman of Marksmen’s Board of Directors. “Russ is a proven leader with rich experience as the custodian of a vast trademark portfolio and profound vision for expanding Marksmen’s offerings to meet trademark owners growing needs.”

Pangborn commented, “I am glad to be joining an organization with the stature of Marksmen. Marksmen is the best-known name in the world in trademark investigation and acquisition. As a former client of the firm, I have an intimate knowledge of their strengths as well as a few opportunities for refinement and growth. I look forward to building upon their culture of innovation, customer service, and integrity.”

“Adding a leader with extensive first-hand knowledge of customer needs and the technological vision to develop new tools to streamline brand protection will extend Marksmen’s leadership,” added Ken Taylor. “It has been an honor to build the company to this stage. We worked hard to find the right leader for the next phase of the company’s growth.”