Thomas Anthony Blanco White QC (19 January 1915 – 12 January 2006) was a British patent lawyer,[1] and an inductee to the IP Hall of Fame in 2010. He was described in his Times obituary as "the best intellectual property lawyer to have practised in England since Fletcher Moulton" and "cultured, straight-talking lawyer who was without peer on intellectual property issues."[2]
Thomas Blanco White | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 January 1915 England |
| Died | 12 January 2006 (aged 90) |
| Education | Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Parent(s) | George Rivers Blanco White and Amber Reeves |
| Relatives | Justin Blanco White (sister) Maud Pember Reeves (grandmother) William Pember Reeves (grandfather) Conrad Waddington (brother-in-law) Dusa McDuff (niece) Caroline Humphrey (niece) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | Air Force |
| Years of service | 1940-1946 |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Family edit
He was the son of the barrister George Rivers Blanco White and his wife, the feminist writer, scholar and campaigner Amber Reeves, daughter of William Pember Reeves and his wife Maud Pember Reeves.[3] His sister, Margaret Justin Blanco White, was an architect, and through her his brother-in-law was the biologist Conrad Hal Waddington - their daughters, his nieces are the anthropologist Caroline Humphrey and the mathematician Dusa McDuff.[4]
Education and early career edit
He was educated at University College School and Gresham's School, before going to his father's alma mater Trinity College, Cambridge where he read physics. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1937, and served with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve from 1940 to 1946 (service No. 80865), working on the then-new field of radar, primarily in India and Ceylon.[5]
Legal career edit
He became a specialist in intellectual property law. He was made Queen's Counsel in 1969.[citation needed]
Publications edit
His 1962 textbook Patents for Inventions is regarded as a classic.[5][6]
Recognition edit
He was inducted into the IP Hall of Fame in 2010.[7]
An intellectual property library in Delhi has been named for him.[5]
References edit
- ^ ‘BLANCO WHITE, Thomas Anthony’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2015; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 2014 accessed 13 Jan 2015
- ^ "Thomas Blanco White". The Times. 11 February 2006. p. 75.
- ^ "White, Amber Blanco [née Amber Reeves] (1887–1981), writer and civil servant". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63956. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
- ^ "White [married name Waddington], (Margaret) Justin Blanco (1911–2001), architect". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.112261. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
- ^ a b c Fysh, Judge (13 January 2006). "Commemoration Speech on the Life and Death of Thomas Blanco White QC". RPC (Reports of Patents, Design, and Trademark Cases). 123 (14). Oxford Journals: 480–481. doi:10.1093/rpc/123.14.480.
- ^ White, Thomas Anthony Blanco. Patents for inventions, and the registration of industrial designs. Stevens, 1962.
- ^ "Thomas Blanco White". iphalloffame.com, developed by Intellectual Asset Management magazine.