Categories: USPTO Leaders
      Date: Apr 24, 2019
     Title: DONALD J. QUIGG

DONALD J. QUIGG 1985-1989

Donald J. Quigg was born April 28, 1916, in Kansas City, Missouri. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Oklahoma and a law degree from the University of Missouri. After a brief period with a law firm he entered the U.S. Army during World War II and received the Silver Star Medal for valor in combat.

In 1946 he joined Phillips Petroleum Co. in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, as a staff patent attorney and studied chemistry at night. In an era when employees often stayed with a company for an entire career, Quigg was a Phillips patent attorney for 35 years and was named an inventor in 10 Phillips patents.

He was chief patent counsel for his last 10 years at Phillips. Although Quigg worked at Phillips headquarters in Oklahoma, he was responsible for an office the company maintained in Washington, D.C., to train patent attorneys. The office monitored patent legislation and regulations for Phillips, giving Quigg familiarity with patent policy issues in Washington.

In 1981 he retired and took the post of deputy commissioner of patents and trademarks. After four years as deputy President Ronald Reagan appointed him assistant secretary of commerce and commissioner of patents and trademarks. He took office on October 13, 1985, at age 69. 



To read more about this USPTO leader, follow the link.

To see additional USPTO leaders, follow the link.

The JPTOS and USPTO have worked together to continue our tradition of providing the biographies of the past USPTO leaders. We would like to thank everyone that was involved.