Florence King (patent attorney)

First woman patent attorney

Born(1870-06-22)June 22, 1870

DiedJune 20, 1924(1924-06-20) (aged 53)

OthernamesFlorence Embrey

OccupationPatent attorney

Florence King
Florence King, from a 1920 publication
Born	(1870-06-22)June 22, 1870 Hudson, Iowa
Died	June 20, 1924(1924-06-20) (aged 53) Chicago, Illinois
Other names	Florence Embrey
Occupation	Patent attorney
Years active	1897-1924

Florence King (June 22, 1870 – June 20, 1924) was the first female patent attorney in America.^[1]^[2]

King earned a B.A. from Mount Morris College in 1891 and a law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1895.^[3]

Career

King became the first woman registered to practice before the U.S. Patent Office in 1897, became the first woman to argue a patent case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1922, and became the first woman to win a case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1923 (Crown v. Nye).^[3]^[4]

She also worked as a consulting engineer in machine design and construction, having attended Armour Institute of Technology for three years.^[5]

She founded and served as president of the Women's Association of Commerce of Chicago and the Woman's Association of Commerce of the United States.^[6] She also organized the Woman's Alaska Gold Club.^[3]

She lived in Edison Park, Chicago.^[7] She died of breast cancer at her home on June 20, 1924.^[4]^[8]

References

↑ "Manchester University Archives and Brethren Historical Collection". Manchester.edu. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
↑ Largent, Craig (2004). "Florence King: First Woman Patent Attorney" (PDF). Stanford Law School.
1 2 3 "Biographical Search | Women's Legal History". Wlh.law.stanford.edu. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
1 2 Sybil E. Hatch (January 1, 2006). Changing Our World: True Stories of Women Engineers. ASCE Publications. pp. 204–. ISBN 978-0-7844-0835-3.
↑ The American Contractor. F. W. Dodge Corporation. 1920. pp. 4–.
↑ The Business Philosopher: The Magazine of Practical Business Building. Science Press. 1918. pp. 10–.
↑ "Success of a Woman Patent Attorney". Los Angeles Herald. January 14, 1906.
↑ "Florence King, Lawyer, is Dead". The Milwaukee Leader. Chicago. June 22, 1924. p. 6. Retrieved October 13, 2025 – via Chronicling America.

Authority control databases
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National	United States

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