In April 1934, a group of Milwaukee patent lawyers met to organize the Patent Law Association of Milwaukee. Spearheaded by Louis Quarles, the Association came into existence in time to participate in the annual meeting of the American Bar Association, which was held in Milwaukee of that year. The original organizing committee, in addition to Mr. Quarles, included the following: Lawrence S. Wheeler, William F. Buckley, William H. Lieber, and Frank H. Hubbard.
The first directory was published on February 1, 1935 and listed fifty-two charter members. Nineteen of these served as President.
The Patent Law Association of Milwaukee formally became the Milwaukee Patent Law Association on February 24, 1943,
and on May 22, 1964, the first Commissioner of Patents from Wisconsin, the Honorable Edward J. Brenner, was unanimously elected as an Honorary Member of the Milwaukee Patent Law Association.
On March 20, 1984, the name of the association was changed to the Wisconsin Intellectual Property Law Association.
In April 2006, WIPLA went on-line with its first organizational web-site.
