John Paul Pinkerton

John died from interstitial lung disease (ILD), which is also known as pulmonary fibrosis. He was born in Jacksonville, TX, on November 24, 1944, to Harlan Sykes Pinkerton, Sr. and Elizabeth (Libby) Lindsay Pinkerton. John grew up in Sand Springs and graduated from Charles Page High School in 1962.

John attended The University of Oklahoma from September 1962 until May 1969, during which time he received a B.S. in General Engineering and a Juris Doctor Degree. While at OU, John was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. As a Delt, he developed many close and meaningful friendships that continued until he passed away. John's formal education was completed in 1997 when he received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas.

After graduating from OU law school in 1969, John was admitted to the State Bar of Oklahoma in September 1969 and continued as a member for more than fifty years. In October 1969, John began his four years of service in the U.S. Army with the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAGC), the legal branch of the Army. Initially, he attended JAGC school at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, Virginia, to study the Code of Military Justice. In 1970, John was assigned to Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. In 1971, John was stationed in Da Nang, Vietnam. During the eleven months he was in Vietnam, John represented the government in court martials of U.S. soldiers.

John loved and appreciated being an intellectual property lawyer and worked in that field for over forty-seven years. John became a member of the State Bar of Texas in September 1973. After moving to Dallas in December 1973, John was in private law practice in Dallas for forty years, primarily practicing patent litigation. In May 2014, John left private practice and became an Administrative Patent Judge (APJ) on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). John served as an APJ until he retired from the USPTO on December 31, 2021.

John emphasized fitness and living healthy. He was an avid golfer and played regularly with his children when they were growing up.

John is survived by his four children: Jason Pinkerton of Asheville, NC, Heather Pinkerton of Austin, TX, and Forrest Pinkerton and Paige Pinkerton of Dallas, TX. John is also survived by his two brothers, Harlan S. Pinkerton, Jr. of Sand Springs, OK, and Larry Pinkerton of Tulsa, OK.

The visitation will be held from 4 - 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 24th ,at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home. Interment will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 25th, at Hillcrest Memorial Park. The Funeral Service will follow the interment at 11:30 am at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.