Tom Arnold
          (1923-2009)

Howrey is mourning the loss of one of the icons of intellectual property law, Tom Arnold, who died today in Houston at the age of 85. In 1957, Tom founded and was the force behind the Houston law firm, Arnold White & Durkee (AWD), which merged with Howrey in 2000 to become Howrey Simon Arnold & White. He specialized in IP law for more than 50 years and had been instrumental in the AWD’s growth into a nationally recognized intellectual property firm. 

Tom was born in Houston, Texas in 1923.  He received his BSEE with honors from the University of Texas- Austin. Prior to his law practice, Tom served in the U.S. Navy during the WWII era, where he was trained in the area of diesel, electrical, and steam power plants, hydraulics, and radar. Upon receiving his law degree with honors from the University of Texas- Austin, he went to work for the Department of Justice Section on Patent Law and later entered private practice.  Tom was a well known author in his field authoring over 400 books, articles and speeches on intellectual property, litigation, licensing, antitrust, bankruptcy, mediation, arbitration, and related subject matters.

Armed with his engineering, law degrees and US Navy experience, Tom rode two successive waves in patent law.  Tom explained the first was as “an explosion” of inventions morphed from research and development for the war into commercial R&D to produce products such as car radios and non-shrinking wool socks, to meet pent-up consumer demand.  Post war chemical polymers which produced an annual explosion of inventions and patent work similar to that of electronics. The second industry wave was the explosion of development in technology in the 80’s.

In 1956, Tom had founded his own patent law firm and developed it into one of the most prominent and well known patent law firms in the country.

The breadth of his legal experience included intellectual property litigation, prosecution, and counseling. In addition, Mr. Arnold focused on alternative dispute resolution with experience in dispute resolution system design, mediation, arbitration, and minitrials in both domestic and international jurisdictions in cases involving licensing, franchising, and intellectual property. In addition to serving as an arbitrator and mediator, Tom was a leader in developing the growing field of alternative dispute resolution. He taught and spoke frequently, and was the writer on the effective use of ADR in commercial and intellectual property litigation. A thought leader in the field, Tom wrote extensively, including several books on the subject and had positions of responsibility in virtually every organization devoted to IP law.

In 2004, Tom received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The National Inventors Hall of Fame, Inc., an organization dedicated to honoring and fostering creativity and invention which normally only recognizes inventors. The organization chose to honor Tom because of his standing in the field of intellectual property law. 

Commenting on the loss of his friend and colleague, Houston Managing Partner, Steve Cagle, said, “Our office has lost a man who was not only a brilliant lawyer and leader in his field, but someone who was literally one of the creators of IP law.  His presence in our office every day was an inspiration to every one of us.  He was bold and smart and his imprint on the Houston legal community as well as intellectual property law is indelible. Our prayers are with his family.  God bless you, Tom Arnold, and thank for all you meant to us.”