What is the name of your patent attorney?
About 4 years ago, for my own personal research, I made a spreadsheet of Registered Patent and Trade Mark attorneys using publicly available data. At the time there were about 720 of us on the Register.
I like working with data and I was curious about the 719 other registered patent attorneys in Australia. I wanted to see if I could see the technology spread in our backgrounds. I wondered just how big the biggest firms were: 54 attorneys. How many attorneys were there in Queensland? I found, at the time, that there were 90 (compared to 265 in Victoria and 256 in NSW). I was also curious to assess gender balance in firms, we, at 60/40, are doing pretty well. It was a little side project that kept me busy for a while and gave me some personal insights. It also allowed me to connect with some local Brisbane patent attorneys that I had previously not known existed.
Recently, I helped my client protect the innovation in its naming app: SPASM by Hockworld. Using the app you can have some fun with imagining how your name may have shaped your personality. You can even use it tongue-in-cheek to help you find a date, or name your next baby. David, the creator, inventor and owner of the SPASM brand is quite the character. About ten years ago, David visited a friend for coffee and from out of the blue - and with an excited smile on her face - she asked him, “So what do you think of the name Murray?” David ran the name through his head a few times and a picture suddenly appeared in his mind. And thus, his Name Theory was born..... Murray: The name given to the phenomenon of dropping a bucket that is half-filled with mud. After it hits the ground most of it slops straight up and hits you in the face as you stand there. “Oh Murray!” you cry. He’s tolerated in the country, indeed he’s very funny, but city folk just don’t understand him.
It got me to thinking about the names of patent attorneys, and whether there is a common name of a person that tends to enter this profession. What does that common name mean and does it say something about all of us. I took a look in my spreadsheet and here are the Top 10 results:
Top ten patent attorney names. Name your baby now!
SPASM: John is the name of that huge bounder sitting out there on its own, near the edge of town. He’s been there so long that we hardly even notice him anymore – he’s just a part of the furniture. There’s a section on the other side of him that hardly ever sees the sun, which may have occasional ramifications, although nothing’s perfect anyway, but there he sits. He’ll be there long after all these humans are dust and one day he will become dust himself.
SPASM: Sarah is a prototype model of perfection. She tries not to offend people but sometimes it can’t be helped. Thoughtful, philosophical, very generous in her day, Sarah is generally an impatient cook.
As attorneys, I suppose we are all either a Sarah or a John. Personally, I think I am a mix of the two. What does your name say about you, and did it make you destined to become a registered patent attorney?!
Photo: Imani Bahati @imani_bht at Unsplash