Q. Todd Dickinson

Personal Dickinson was born in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, the eldest son of John and Martha Dickinson. His legal first name is "Q", and is not an initial for a name beginning with said letter.

Dickinson and his brother John grew up in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, graduating from Mt. Lebanon High School. Dickinson was a founding master of the Benjamin Franklin Inn of Court, for intellectual property, in Philadelphia. After confirmation by the Senate, Dickinson took the oath of office, on November 17, 1999, as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks.

After the USPTO 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. He then joined General Electric as Vice President & Chief Intellectual Property Counsel. On September 1, 2008, he was named executive director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He remained in that AIPLA position until July 2014, when he resigned. In March 2015, he joined Novak Druce Connolly Bove + Quigg LLP as Global Chair of its Client Select Strategic Services Group.

In 2012, Dickinson was inducted into the Intellectual Property Hall of Fame by Intellectual Asset Management magazine. 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.

Death and legacy Dickinson died May 3, 2020, of respiratory failure at a hospital in Warrenton, Virginia. Andrei Iancu, then serving as Director of the USPTO, said in a statement that "Todd was immensely knowledgeable and influential in the intellectual property community. He was a warm person and a great friend to many".