David A. Anderson, 60, of Naperville, a Chicago patent attorney and former adjunct law professor at DePaul University, died of cancer Monday, March 4, in Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago.
Born in Chicago, Mr. Anderson was raised on the city’s North Side. As a boy, his family moved to Northbrook, where he graduated with honors from Glenbrook High School. He later earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, with honors, from Purdue University and was president of his graduating class.
In 1967, Mr. Anderson graduated with honors from George Washington University Law School in Washington, where he served as patent editor of the George Washington Law Review.
That same year, he joined the Chicago intellectual-property law firm now known as Brinks, Hofer, Gilson & Lione.
“Dave was not only a valued colleague, but a very close friend,” said Henry Brinks, a partner in the law firm. “Over the years I came to know him as an articulate, intelligent man with a strong sense of purpose. I also watched him develop into a highly skilled patent attorney, whose aggressiveness in representing his clients was unsurpassed.”
Mr. Anderson became well-known as a trial attorney in patent infringement cases. He especially enjoyed the challenge of explaining complex technology to juries.
His talents in explaining the law were honed from 1971 to 1986, when he was an adjunct professor of law at DePaul. There, he founded what has become a flourishing program in intellectual-property law.
Mr. Anderson was active in encouraging attorneys to consider alternatives to litigation and was a sought-after speaker in the fields of alternative dispute resolution and patent licensing. In 1997 he led a group of eight Chicago firms to form an organization called the Association of Patent Law Firms. Only law firms can be members, and these firms are required to focus on patent law. He was the founding president of the organization, which now has a national membership.
As an active member of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Mr. Anderson helped found the church’s Marketplace Ministry, which helps people who want to hold Bible-study and prayer groups in their workplaces.
He recently helped found a cancer-support group at the church.
“Although he accomplished a lot in his lifetime, my husband was first and foremost a family man,” said his wife, Deborah. “He looked at his sons, of whom he was most proud, as his greatest accomplishments.”
Other survivors include three sons, Jordan, Erik and Wes; his mother, Mary; a brother, Douglas; and a sister, Deborah.
Services will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday in the chapel of Willow Creek, 67 E. Algonquin Rd., South Barrington.
