William E. Schuyler, Jr.,’31

Patent, Trademark and Intellectual Property Attorney

William Earl Schuyler Jr., a patent, trademark and intellectual property lawyer who served as U.S. commissioner of patents from 1969 to 1971, died July 25, 2007 at Casey House hospice in Rockville. He had congestive heart failure.

Besides heading the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Mr. Schuyler was co-chairman of the U.S. delegation to the diplomatic conference that negotiated the Patent Cooperation Treaty, an international agreement concerning protection of patented idea. In later years, he received further appointments to patent delegations, sometimes with the rank of ambassador.

Mr. Schuyler was a native Washingtonian and a 1931 graduate of Western High School. He was a 1935 electrical engineering graduate of Catholic University and a 1940 graduate of Georgetown University Law School. Early in his career, he was a partner in the law firm of Browne, Schuyler and Beveridge. From 1971 to 1983, he was a partner of what became Schuyler, Banner, Birch, McKie and Beckett. Afterward, he became a consultant and appeared as an expert witness. He was a former chairman of the American Bar Association’s section on patent, trademark and copyright law and held other offices within the association.

In 1981 President Ronald Reagan appointed him ambassador and head of the United States delegation to the Diplomatic Conference in Nairobi for the purpose of revising the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. In addition, he also headed the United States Delegation to the Diplomatic Conference for the Protection of the Olympic Symbol.

Mr. Schuyler served on Catholic University’s board of regents, an advisory group to the university’s president, from 1986 to 1991. The school had earlier given him an alumni award recognizing his government service.

He also was a former adjunct professor at Georgetown Law, where he had served on the board of visitors.

He established a scholarship fund supporting Catholic’s engineering school and Georgetown Law.

He was a member of Catholic Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda as well as a principal supporter and lector. He was a longtime Bethesda resident.

Source: Unknown.