Frederick Perry Fish
| Frederick Perry Fish | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Born | January 13, 1855 Taunton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Died | November 6, 1930 (aged 75) Brookline, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Alma mater |
Harvard College Harvard Law School |
| Occupation | Patent Lawyer |
Frederick Perry Fish (13 January 1855 – 6 November 1930) was an American lawyer and executive who served as president of American Telephone & Telegraph Corporation from 1901 to 1907. He was the founder of the law firm now known as Fish & Richardson.
Born in Taunton, Massachusetts, Fish attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 1878. He worked at the law firm of Thomas L. Livermore and Senator Bainbridge Wadleigh in Boston. During his lifetime, the law firm was successively named Wadleigh & Fish (1878); Livermore & Fish(1885); Livermore, Fish & Richardson(1889); Fish, Richardson & Storrow(1890); Fish, Richardson, Herrick & Storrow(1899); Fish, Richardson, Herrick & Storrow(1899), Fish Richardson, Herrick & Neave(1900); Richardson, Herrick & Neave (1901); Fish, Richardson, Herrick & Neave (1907); and Fish, Richardson & Neave (1916). In 1969, after Fish’s death, the firm adopted its current name, Fish & Richardson.
Fish's specialty was patent law. He was involved in key patent litigation during development of the telephone, the air brake, the steam turbine, the automobile, the airplane and the radio, as well as other electric appliances.
In 1901, Fish took leave from the law practice to serve as the president of AT&T. During his tenure at AT&T, Fish oversaw completion of a unified network of telephone lines nationwide. In January 1901, as AT&T Patent Attorney, Fish advised that the PTO would likely grant Pupin prior inventorship, which ultimately came to pass.
He turned down the presidency of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and returned to law in 1907. That year, Fish first credited Thomas Edison with suggesting "hello" as a more efficient telephone greeting than "Are you there?" or "Are you ready to talk?" Alexander Graham Bell had proposed "ahoy".
...
Wikipedia