Posts Tagged: "In Memoriam"

Last Thursday, May 20, the IP industry lost a leader and a dedicated servant. John Doll, surrounded by family, passed at a hospital in Wake Forest, North Carolina after a prolonged battle with lung cancer. For those who knew Doll personally or professionally, he was in it “to win it,” approaching it scientifically until the end, participating in clinical trials where possible and keeping abreast of new discoveries. In fact, in June of 2020, Doll was selected by the Lung Cancer Research Foundation (LCRF) to share his experience on National Cancer Survivors Day. In his recorded message, Doll spoke directly about the importance of research for drug design and development in treating lung cancer.

David Kline passed away last month after battling esophageal cancer. He was an unsung hero in the quest to make intellectual property better understood and more widely accepted. David was best-known in the IP community for Rembrandts in the Attic, a still controversial book about patent monetization he co-wrote with Kevin Rivette and published in 1999. Later, “The Burning of the Ships” with Marshall Phelps, about Microsoft’s evolution in IP strategy and licensing. David was responsible for writing and editing “The Intangible Advantage,” an important text book for students, that is currently distributed for free by the Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property. A Pulitzer-nominated journalist, ghost writer and business consultant, David was a former columnist for Wired and Upside magazines; reporter for New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Atlantic, NBC News, CBS News, and Rolling Stone; consultant to Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard and Accenture.

In the midst of so much daily sadness around the global pandemic, 2020 dealt us another blow when we learned this week that our friend and giant of the IP world, Q. Todd Dickinson, passed away on May 3, 2020. In response to our In Memoriam article, many of you weighed in with your own personal memories and accounts of Todd, and many more were eager to share their tribute with us separately. His passing also has been noted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), where he served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO – the first to hold that title – from 1999 to 2001. Prior to that, Dickinson was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1998 to be Deputy Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks and became Acting Commissioner after the departure of Commissioner Bruce Lehman, and then Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks. Below are compiled the heartfelt recollections we have received thus far about the unmatched career and character of Q. Todd Dickinson. If you would like to add yours, please email us at [email protected]. 

It is with great sadness that I write today on the occasion of the passing of a true legend in the patent world. Donald Dunner, a partner in Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP in Washington, D.C., passed away earlier today. “Don was a great lawyer and a wonderful man. He also gave enormously of himself, and his time, to our profession and its organizations,” said Todd Dickinson, former Director of the USPTO and current Senior Counsel at Polsinelli.  “It was a genuine privilege to work with him on many issues and to count him as a friend.” Indeed, aside from the many legal accolades Dunner so rightfully earned during his lifetime, he was as good and nice a person as he was an excellent attorney. Perhaps that shouldn’t be remarkable, but Dunner always had a grace and elegance that set him apart. He was a friend to judges and politicians, as well as a mentor to countless attorneys.