Q. Todd Dickinson

Q. Todd Dickinson (December 21, 1952 – May 3, 2020)^[1] was a former Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). He was an Executive Director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), and had been mentioned by some sources for possible reappointment to his former post as Director of the USPTO by the Barack Obama administration prior to the appointment of David Kappos to that post.^[2]

Dickinson earned a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Allegheny College in 1974 and a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1977. He was a member of the Bars of Pennsylvania, California, and Illinois, and was registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Dickinson began his legal career as a patent and trademark lawyer with Baxter Travenol Laboratories in Deerfield, Illinois, and then took a job with the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania law firm of Blenko, Buell, Ziesenheim and Beck. From 1981 to 1990, he served as counsel to Chevron Corporation in San Francisco, California, focusing on domestic and international intellectual property matters. In 1990, he was hired as Chief Counsel for Intellectual Property and Technology at Sun Company, Inc., a post he would hold until 1995, when he left to join the law firm of Dechert Price & Rhoads.^[3]

President William Clinton appointed Dickinson Deputy Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks in June 1998, and he became the Acting Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks on January 1, 1999 after Commissioner Bruce Lehman left the office. Dickinson was nominated for Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks by President Clinton on July 31, 1999.^[4] After confirmation by the Senate, Dickinson took the oath of office on November 17, 1999. His full title then was Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks.^[1]

In 1999, Congress passed the American Inventors Protection Act, which changed the office and titles to Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Dickinson served as the first such Under Secretary and Director of the USPTO until January 2001.^[5]

After leaving the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Dickinson joined the Washington, D.C. office of Howrey Simon Arnold & White, becoming co-chair of its intellectual property practice.^[6] He then joined General Electric as Vice President & Chief Intellectual Property Counsel.^[7] On September 1, 2008, he was named Executive Director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association.^[8] He remained in that AIPLA position until July 2014, when he resigned.^[9] In March 2015, he joined Novak Druce Connolly Bove + Quigg LLP as Global Chair of its Client Select Strategic Services Group.^[10] In the Spring of 2016, he joined Polsinelli along with 43 other attorneys from Novak Druce and became a Senior Partner in its intellectual property practice.^[11][12]

Dickinson died May 3, 2020. He is survived by his husband Robert Atkins, and his brother John Dickinson.^[13][14]

• Picture and brief biographical sketch of Dickinson from Time Magazine's "The Future of Life" feature