While the Wright brothers invented the system that gracefully maneuvers an airplane, it is their patent attorney, Harry Toulmin, who received honor recently for the deft crafting of their patent application. To commemorate the achievement, the University of Dayton School of Law hosted a panel discussion, “A Century After the Airplane Patent: The Lawyer’s Role in Innovation,” on Oct. 5.
More than 60 people attended the event that highlighted today’s concerns and challenges with patent law, licensing and intellectual property and focused on the lawyer’s role in assuring technological advances in society.
“When you look at the Wright brothers’ claim, you not only see a masterful inventor, but you see a masterful lawyer,” said panelist John Duffy, professor at the George Washington University Law School. “The law and the legal creation are always the servant and not the master of intellectual curiosity, and if we forget this, we should be held in contempt.”
Panelists included:
- John Doll, patent commissioner, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
- John Duffy, professor, George Washington University Law School
- Jesse Jenner, partner, Fish & Neave IP Group of Ropes & Gray
- Larry McKinney, chief judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana
- Bill Neukom, president-elect of the American Bar Association and chair of Preston Gates & Ellis LLP
Along with the UD School of Law, the following organizations sponsored the event:
- George Washington University School of Law
- Aviation Heritage Foundation
- American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property and Air and Space Law sections
- Federal Circuit Bar Association
- Ropes & Gray
- Turner Foundation