Q Todd Dickinson
Former director of both the USPTO and the American Intellectual Property Law Association
IP Hall of Fame inductee in 2012
During his long career in intellectual property, Q Todd Dickinson has worked in-house as head of IP at GE and in private practice as a senior partner in the IP group of Howrey. He also held office in the US government as under secretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during the presidency of Bill Clinton. In 2014, Dickinson stepped down as executive director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, a role in which he had continued to be a driving influence in US IP policy making, and in 2016 became a shareholder at Polsinelli. He passed away in 2020, after which IAM created the annual Q Todd Dickinson Award in his honour. This is awarded to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to IP as a business asset.