Boynton Parker Livingston, highly respected lawyer
Boynton “Parker” Parker Livingston, 79, of Rehoboth Beach, a lawyer who retired in 2011 as attorney-at-law in Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney PC, died of pulmonary hypertension and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Saturday, July 6 at Beebe Healthcare, Lewes.
Parker grew up in East Falls Church, Va., and graduated from St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School in 1963. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from University of Virginia in 1967, where he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Parker attended University of Richmond School of Law and passed the Virginia Bar Exam in 1973. He was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1980 and to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.
Parker, a former resident of Arlington, Va., specialized in intellectual property law, specifically trademarks, copyrights, and unfair competition. His experience included brand protection and enforcement strategy, trademark clearance, and registration in the U.S. and worldwide. Parker’s clients were both foreign and domestic, and were in numerous industries.
Parker was a partner with Mason, Fenwick & Lawrence, one of the oldest intellectual property firms in the United States founded by his great-grandfather, and then Burns, Doane, Swecker & Mathis, one of the oldest and largest intellectual property law firms in the U.S., until its lawyers joined Buchanan in 2005. He was a former trademark examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and was a special assistant to the assistant commissioner of trademarks. Parker was appointed to the Trademark Public Advisory Committee of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which oversees issues arising in the USPTO.
Parker was a member of the Washington Golf and Country Club, Arlington Rotary Club, and The Falls Church Episcopal in Falls Church. He was a life member of the Virginia Bar Association and a member of its Intellectual Property Law Section. Parker was a longtime member of both the International Trademark Association and the Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group, as well as an overseas member of the Institute of Trademark Attorneys. He was a member of the American Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Association, and the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property. Parker was highly respected by his peers and colleagues.
Parker was a member of Lewes-Rehoboth Rotary and served as its president from 2018-19.
Parker loved football. He had season tickets to the University of Virginia home football games and attended the games in Charlottesville, Va. Parker also enjoyed reading, gardening, traveling, and researching his family’s genealogy as part of his lifelong interest in history and family history.
Parker was predeceased by his parents, Katherine Livingston and Boynton Livingston. Survivors include his wife of 39 years, Elizabeth A. Riegel of Rehoboth Beach; and many cousins and friends.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Parsell Funeral Homes Atkins-Lodge chapel, 16961 Kings Hwy., Lewes, where family and friends may begin visiting at 10 a.m. Interment will be at a later date in Falls Church, Va.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Lewes-Rehoboth Rotary Foundation, P.O. Box 91, Lewes, DE 19958; or The Falls Church Episcopal, 115 E. Fairfax St., Falls Church, VA 22046.
Visit Parker’s Life Memorial webpage at parsellfuneralhomes.com.
