This page seeks to honor the achievements of GW Law alums who have spent some or all of their careers in intellectual property law. Our first project has been to collect landmark patents written by GW Law alumni. The results—encompassing many of the highlights of technological progress in the last 130 years—are posted below. There are many other achievements we have yet to chronicle —more recent patent prosecutions (more difficult to attribute to an individual due to the proliferation of large firms), and achievements in patent litigation, in the Patent and Trademark Office, and in trademark and copyright law. If you have any contributions—either your own achievements or those of others—please e-mail Professor Robert Brauneis at rbrauneis@law.gwu.edu.
Landmark Patents Written By GW Law Alumni
1870s
Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell, Inventor
Marcellus Bailey, Class of 1866, Attorney
Patent # 174,465
Issued March 7, 1876
Marcellus Bailey and the Telephone
1880s
Linotype Machine
Ottmar Mergenthaler, Inventor
Philip Tell Dodge, Class of 1873, Attorney
Patent #317,828
Issued May 12, 1885
Calculating Machine
William S. Burroughs, Inventor
Frank Leslie Freeman, Class of 1877, Attorney
Patent # 388,116
Issued August 21, 1888
Roll Film Camera
George Eastman, Inventor
Melville Church, Class of 1879 (later professor at GW); Frederick F. Church, Class of 1886, Attorneys
Patent #388,850
Issued September 4, 1888
Punch-Card Tabulator
Herman Hollerith, Inventor
Melville Church, Class of 1879 (later professor at
W); Frederick F. Church, Class of 1886, Attorneys
Patent #395,782
Issued January 8, 1889
1890s
Process of Extracting Bromide
Herbert Henry Dow, Inventor
Leverett Lyndon Leggett, Class of 1875, Attorney
Reissue No. 11,232
Reissued April 12, 1892
Carborundum
Edward Goodrich Acheson, Inventor
Frank Leslie Freeman, Class of 1877, Attorney
Patent #492,767
Issued February 28, 1893
Alternating Current Electric Distribution
Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Inventor
George R. Blodgett, Class of 1887, Attorney
Patent #533,244
Issued January 29, 1895
Dirigible (Zeppelin)
Ferdinand Graf Zeppelin, Inventor
Hubert Howson, Class of 1877, Attorney
Patent #621,195
Issued March 14, 1899
1900s
Flying Machine
Orville Wright; Wilbur Wright, Inventors
Harry Aubrey Toulmin, Class of 1882 (National), Attorney
Patent #821,393
Issued May 22, 1906
Triode Vacuum Tube
Lee DeForest, Inventor
George K. Woodworth, Class of 1901 (National), Attorney
Patent #841,387
Issued January 16, 1907
Space Telegraphy (Radio)
Lee DeForest, Inventor
George K. Woodworth, Class of 1901 (National), Attorney
Patent #879,532
Issued February 18, 1908
1910s
Seaplane
Glenn H. Curtiss, Inventor
Emerson Root Newell, L.L.M. 1896. M.P.L. 1897,
Attorney
Patent #1,156,215
Issued October 12, 1915
1920s
Improved Phonograph
Thomas Alva Edison, Inventor
Henry Lanahan, Class of 1910, Attorney
Patent #1,708,692
Issued April 9, 1929
1930s
Nylon
Wallace Hume Carothers, Inventor
Ralph F. Miller, Class of 1924, Attorney
Patent #2,071,250
Issued February 16, 1937
Negative Feedback Amplifier
Harold Stephen Black, Inventor
Newton A. Burgess, Class of 1911, Attorney
Patent # 2,102,671
Issued December 21, 1937
1940s
Variable Frequency Oscillation Generator
William R. Hewlett, Inventor
Paul D. Flehr, Class of 1925, Attorney
Patent #2,268,872
Issued January 6, 1942
Control Mechanism for Rockets
Robert Hutchings Goddard, Inventor
Charles Taft Hawley, Class of 1913, Attorney
Patent# 2,397,657
Issued April 2, 1946
1950s
Geodesic Dome
Richard Buckminster Fuller, Inventor
Charles P. Pollard, Class of 1931; Albert C.
ohnston, Class of 1934, Attorney
Patent #2,682,235
Issued December 12, 1951
Nuclear Reactor
Enrico Fermi; Leo Szilard, Inventor
Robert A. Lavender, Class of 1927, Attorney
Patent #2,708,656
Issued May 17, 1955
1960s
Tunnel Diode
Leo Ezaki, Inventor
Lewis Steadman, Class of 1951, Attorney
Patent #3,033,714
Issued May 8, 1962
Astroturf
James M. Faria; Robert T. Wright, Inventors
Roy H. Massengill, Class of 1963, Attorney
Patent #3,332,828
Issued July 25, 1967
1970s
Computer Mouse
Douglas C. Engelbart, Inventor
Arthur Freilich, Class of 1960, Attorney
Patent #3,541,541
Issued November 17, 1970
Fiber Optics (Fused Silica Optical Waveguide)
Robert D. Maurer, Peter C. Schultz, Inventors
Clarence R. Patty, Jr., Class of 1950, Attorney
Patent #3,659,915
Issued May 2, 1972
Kevlar
Stephanie Louise Kwolek, Inventor
Sol Schwartz, Class of 1954, Attorney
Patent #3,819,537
Issued June 25, 1974
Miniature Electronic Calculator
Jack S. Kilby, Jerry D. Merryman, James H. Van Tassel, Inventors
Harold Levine, Class of 1958; Edward Connors, Jr., LLM 1962, Attorneys
Patent #3,819,921
Issued June 25, 1974
Parallel Processing Supercomputer
Seymour Cray, Inventor
Robert M. Angus, Class of 1966, Attorney
Patent #3,833,889
Issued September 3. 1974
CAT-Scan Machine
Robert S. Ledley, Inventor
Edward E. Dyson, Class of 1966, Attorney
Patent #3,922,552
Issued November 25, 1975
1980s
Process for Producing Biologically Functional Molecular Chimeras
Stanley N. Cohen, Herbert W. Boyer, Inventor
Bertram I. Rowland, Class of 1961, Attorney
Patent #4,237,224
Issued December 2, 1980
Bertram Rowland and the Cohen/Boyer Cloning Patent
Oil-Eating Bacteria (B. cepacia)
Ananda Chakrabarty, Inventor
James C. Davis, Jr., Class of 1963, Attorney
Patent #4,259,444
Issued March 31, 1981
Prozac (Arloxyphenyl- propylamines)
Bryan B. Molloy; Klaus K. Schmiegel, Inventors
Arthur R. Whale, Class of 1956, Attorney
Patent #4,314,081
Issued February 2, 1982
Arthur R. Whale and Prozac
Medeco Biaxial Cylinder Lock
Roy N. Oliver, Inventor
G. Franklin Rothwell, Class of 1956, Attorney
Patent #4,635,455
Issued January 13, 1987
Multigrade Asphalt
Anthony J. Kriech; Herbert L. Wissel, Inventors
Arthur R. Whale, Class of 1956, Attorney
Patent #4,874,432
Issued October 17, 1989
Arthur R. Whale and Multigrade Asphalt
2000s
Tissue Growth Technique ("Guided Development and Support of Hydrogel-Cell Compositions")
Charles A. Vacanti, Joseph P. Vacanti, Martin P. Vacanti, Inventors
Peter J. Fasse, J.D. 1987, Attorney
Patent #6,171,610
Issued January 9, 2001