A Call to Remember the Women in Our Professional Lives

• Author: Scott F. Partridge
• Position: Scott F. Partridge is chair of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law. He is a partner at Baker Botts LLP in Houston, Texas.
• Pages: 3-3

Perspective

Published in Landslide® magazine, Volume 10, Number 4, a publication of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL), ©2018 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.

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W hen I consider the women

who have made a difference

in my personal growth and

professional development, the list is

long—and it quite naturally starts with

my incomparable mother, Helen Mar-

garet Schneible.

My mom would be very proud that

I write about the rst woman to whom

I reported in my professional career,

Dr. Betsy Ancker-Johnson. Dr. Ancker-

Johnson was one of the highest ranking

political appointees during the Nixon

administration, the Assistant Secretary

of Commerce for Science and Technol-

ogy. She was a plasma physicist with

a half dozen or so patents of real note-

worthiness, Phi Beta Kappa, the fourth

woman elected to the National Acad-

emy of Engineering, the rst woman

vice president of an automotive com-

pany, mother of four, and many other

accomplishments—you get the picture.

Dr. Ancker-Johnson was famous for

saying, “Work hard—no one owes you

a living.”

From 1973 to 1974, I worked at the

Ofce of Legislation at the US Patent

and Trademark Ofce (USPTO), where

among other things I was responsible

for aspects of the Nixon administra-

tion’s attempt to rewrite the patent

statute. In particular, I developed eco-

nomic models that were presented to

Dr. Ancker-Johnson for her use when

the Departments of Commerce and Jus-

tice met with the Ofce of Management

and Budget to “discuss” the merits of

the new patent statute. During one of

those meetings, she made a mistake

during her presentation, one that mat-

tered. With knees knocking, I stood up

and said, “Madame Secretary, may I

have a word with you?” But, instead of

chastising me, she stepped aside, lis-

tened, and then corrected her statement.

That’s not something many people at

her rank would have done. She thanked

me later and applauded my nerve. But it

was not my nerve that was in play from

my perspective, it was my sense from

prior meetings that she always wanted

to get it right. And she had what it took

to make a public correction among her

all-male colleagues at the time.

All this taught me something about

myself: when you make a mistake

that matters, have the chutzpah to cor-

rect it. Shortly thereafter, I was so

proud to learn that I had earned Dr.

Ancker-Johnson’s trust as she assigned

a somewhat undercover project to me,

which will remain a mystery, and I

ended up with an appointment as a

Deputy General Counsel to President

Ford’s Presidential Clemency Board.

It is thanks to this luminary, Dr.

Betsy Ancker-Johnson, that my courage

(really my nerve) to pursue new profes-

sional aspirations—whether they t the

mold or not—was strengthened to make

a difference in my life. n

ScottF. Partridge is chair of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law. He is a partner at Baker Botts LLP in Houston, Texas.

By ScottF. Partridge

A Call to Remember the Women in Our Professional Lives

The ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law

is proud to honor

Simon Tam and His Legal Team

Simon Tam

Musician, Author, Entrepreneur, and Activist

Legal Team

Ronald D. Coleman; John C. Connell; Joel G. MacMull

Please join us at the

Mark T. Banner Award Luncheon

Thursday, April 19, 2018

12:00 pm - 1:30 pm

Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, VA

• Special music presentation by Simon Tam and The Slants •

Visit www.ambar.org/iplspring2018 for information and to register

for the 33rd Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference.

For discount table sales, contact: michael.kesler@americanbar.org

2018

Mark T. Banner

Award Honorees

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