THOMAS BLANCO WHITE was the best intellectual property lawyer to have practised in England since Fletcher Moulton — and there can be no higher praise.
His book Patents for Inventions was first published in 1950 and went through successive editions until it was transformed into the Encyclopaedia of United Kingdom and European Patent Law in 1977, when several members of his chambers joined him, taking responsibility for some chapters. He was the lead editor of Kerly on Trade Marks for 20 years. He also wrote a textbook for students that was pithy, full of deep insight and yet immensely readable. Current authors try to continue his style, but when one gave him a copy of the latest edition he typically said: “You still can’t write English.”
His books earned him an international reputation as a scholar, and his practice took him to many countries where United Kingdom intellectual property law continued to be practised.
Thomas Anthony Blanco White was the son of George Rivers Blanco White, QC, Recorder of Croydon, who subsequently became a special divorce commissioner, and his wife Amber, a noted intellectual and bluestocking. From University College School he went on to Gresham’s at Holt, where for a time he shared a study with Benjamin Britten. He then followed his father to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read mathematics, becoming a wrangler before changing to natural sciences. He was called to the Bar by Lincoln’s Inn in 1937 but on the outbreak of war was commissioned into the RAF to work on radar. He served in South Africa, India and Ceylon.
On demobilisation he resumed his practice at the Bar. He specialised in patents and gained a large junior practice. He took silk in 1969 and many thought he should have been granted it earlier but was blocked by the patent judge, who was jealous of his intellect.
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He succeeded abundantly as a silk, helped by an awe-inspiring mastery of science and technology. When in 1967 he became head of chambers they were at a low ebb, reduced to five practitioners following a succession of deaths and retirements. Under his example and leadership, carefully selecting and training junior members, the numbers rapidly expanded and by the time he retired in March 1990 his were the leading chambers in their field.
When the first woman asked to join chambers, the clerk said: “I don’t think that’s a good idea, she won’t get any work.” Blanco (as he was known to all at the Bar) laconically replied: “Well, never mind.” She got plenty.
Always a robust individualist, when he became a bencher of Lincoln’s Inn he was the first to arrive in leathers and Doc Martens. His powerful mind was untempered by any element of the common touch, nor did he ever cultivate a bedside manner. Always one to say exactly what he thought, he once made Lord Justice Parker sit back with astonishment, saying: “My Lords, in the Patent Office, unlike here [pause for effect], red tape cuts no ice.” On another, when the presiding Lord Justice in a highly technical case sought to reassure him by saying that one of the Lord Justices had a degree in physics, he got the response: “Oh my lord, an elementary degree in physics will hardly help in a case of this sort.”
When some American clients left his room in chambers one of them was heard to say: “That was marvellous, but what the heck did he say?” Perhaps such remarks help to explain why he never became a High Court judge, though he was outstanding when sitting as a deputy. But his goodwill and friendliness were such that he died with many friends and no enemies.
He was a man of very diverse abilities with a good knowledge of Russian and German. A great gardener, he grew many rare plants and shrubs, and translated Russian works on irises. His technical ability led him to make his own hi-fi equipment and many sophisticated pieces of electronic apparatus. He was also an extremely good photographer and a connoisseur of fine food and wine.
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He married Anne Ironside-Smith in 1950. She survives him with their two sons and daughter.
Thomas Blanco White, QC, lawyer, was born on January 19, 1915. He died on January 12, 2006, aged 90.