Apr 22, 2021 - Jul 22, 2021
Oxford Intellectual Property Law
********************* THIS EVENT FOR THE YEAR 2021 HAS ENDED *********************
The Oxford International Intellectual Property Law Moot involves teams from law faculties around the world and is focused on a different topic of intellectual property law each year. Students will spend the fall semester authoring written submissions for the competition, improving their writing and research skills in English, conducting in-depth research on the specific intellectual property topic of the moot, and presenting their arguments in class in an on-campus oral round. Each university can submit only one team, consisting of 2-3 students, for consideration for the Oxford written competition, which selects teams for admission to the oral rounds at Oxford. If a larger number of students is interested in participating in the written phase, students can participate and earn credit for the fall course, and then the University of Bern team with the best-written submission will be the team whose brief goes on to the selection process at Oxford. Students can sign up individually; teams will be formed during the class. Oxford will issue invitations to attend the oral rounds to the teams ranked in the top 24 of all written submissions worldwide, and if selected by Oxford, the University of Bern team will travel to the competition at Oxford University in March 2020. At Oxford, students will have the opportunity to compete against teams from around the world, being judged by distinguished practitioners and actual judges from the U.K.
Important Dates
Dates
Events
May 12, 2020
Information Session
May 23, 2020
Sign up via E-mail
September 22, 2020
First-class Meeting (students who have signed up by e-mail will be notified of the exact location)
Mid-November, 2020
Deadline for written submissions
December 2020
The best team’s written submission will be turned in to Oxford for consideration
Mid-January 2021
Oxford will announce which teams made it through to the Oral Rounds
February - March 2021
Spring course and preparation for the Oral Rounds (if admitted)
March 2021
If invited by Oxford, the University of Bern team will travel to Oxford to compete
Qualifications
Participating students must be enrolled at the University of Bern in the Masters or LL.M. program for both Fall Semester 2019 and Spring Semester 2020 (for LL.M. students, please note that participants are not allowed to have been admitted to the Bar nor licensed to practice in any jurisdiction). Exchange students at the University of Bern are also welcome to participate. The language of the briefs and oral arguments will be English, but of course, other languages are helpful for conducting research. Students should have taken or been taking one of Professor Rigamonti's courses on intellectual property law (or an equivalent course at another university), in order to have some basic familiarity with the field.
Students will receive training on how to conduct intellectual property research using common law resources and databases, will improve their written and spoken legal English by drafting two written briefs and two sets of skeleton arguments, will learn courtroom protocol appropriate for the U.K., and will improve their advocacy and public speaking skills.
Registration and Eligibility
The Moot is open to students who are enrolled on a full-time or part-time basis in a higher education degree, provided that:
such course is not a research degree in law;
he or she has not been admitted or licensed to practice law in any jurisdiction; and
he or she is enrolled at his or her institution at the date of the Oral Proceedings, or at an earlier time as permitted at the discretion of the OC.
Members of the OC are not eligible to participate as mooters, even if they otherwise meet the requirements.
Note: Prospective entrants who have any inquiries about eligibility are advised to contact the Moot Secretary at [moot@oiprc.ox.ac.uk] at their earliest convenience. The OC has received inquiries in the past about the status of paralegals, law clerks, and patent/trademark agents. Merely being employed as a paralegal or clerk will not usually fall within the exclusion, as such positions are often held prior to (or without) being admitted to practice. The status of patent and trademark agents will depend on the rules in the particular jurisdiction, and the OC will advise on a case-by-case basis.
There is an exception for original members of the 2020 Teams. For those team members only, eligibility is to be judged in March 2020.
Any entrant into the Moot is required to declare in their application that they are eligible to compete. Anyone considered by the OC to have misrepresented their eligibility will be subject to an appropriate penalty determined by the OC, which penalty may include disqualification from the competition. Those wishing to apply for discretion should apply in writing for such a determination prior to entering their written submissions. Such applications should be addressed to the Moot Secretary at [moot@oiprc.ox.ac.uk].
A university or other higher education institution may only enter one team for the Moot. A team comprises two or three team members, each eligible, for 2020 Teams. The same team must prepare the written submissions and appear in the Oral Proceedings. It is a matter for teams to decide which members speak (if at all) and in what order.
For the 2020 Teams, it is permissible for an original mooter to be substituted with a new mooter, so long as: (i) there remains at least one original mooter on the team; and (ii) any new mooter(s) meet the eligibility requirements.
Note: It is not permissible for a 2020 Team to replace all of its original mooters with new mooters. If no team members from the 2020 Team are available to moot in March 2021, that university may select a new team and make new written submissions in December 2020.
A team may be supported by a third party or parties who fulfil a mentoring or coaching role. Any such individual must not make any substantive contribution to the preparation of written submissions nor contribute during Oral Proceedings. For the avoidance of doubt, observers are not required to meet the conditions.
On registration, each team undertakes to submit all documentation in good time to meet the deadlines set out in these rules. Additionally, each team undertakes to arrange timely payment of any fees. Late submission of any documentation or payment may lead to sanctions determined by the Organizing Committee (OC) to be appropriate, including disqualification from all or part of the competition.
Each team is required to pay a moot registration fee of £200. This subsidized fee is to cover the costs of running the Moot. Because the Moot will be run entirely online in March 2021, there will be no observer fees. The moot registration fee and the team registration form must be submitted by the Registration Deadline of Tuesday 9 February 2021.
Note: For 2020 Teams, the sum of £235 will be reimbursed (this being the difference between the registration fee paid last year and the moot registration fee for March 2021) along with any observer fees.
A team is deemed to have applied to enter the competition when a completed team registration form has been received by the Moot Secretary. A team is deemed to have registered for the competition when all of the team registration form, a mooter registration form for each team member, and all the requisite fees as laid out in these rules, have been received.
If a team deemed to have applied to enter the competition does not participate in the Oral Proceedings, they are deemed to have withdrawn from the Moot. They will no longer be considered for any awards, including those relating to written submissions. The exception to this rule is for any teams that were invited to March 2020 moot (which was subsequently cancelled) but who declined the invitation to participate in the Oral Proceedings in March 2021. Those teams will be considered for the prize for best-written submissions for the 2020 Teams.
Participation in the Oral Proceedings is by invitation only. Except as set out in this provision, invitations will be issued on the basis of the results of the two Written Phases in December 2019 and December 2020. The total number of teams invited will be at the discretion of the OC. The winner of the previous year’s Canadian Fox Moot will be granted entry into the Moot, provided they meet the eligibility requirements. They will tender written submissions, and will accordingly be considered for awards for such submissions alongside other entrants. They will automatically gain an invitation to the Oral Proceedings.
If a team invited has to withdraw from the Moot, then the team with the next highest scoring set of written submissions, at the discretion of the OC, be invited to the Oral Proceedings.
Should a member of a team have individually to withdraw from the Moot, the remaining team members may continue in the Moot (if the team originally comprised three mooters) or withdraw from the Moot (if the team originally comprised two mooters, or, for 2020 Teams, the mooter withdrawing is the sole original mooter). The team may apply in writing to the OC for permission to substitute a new team member. The OC will have total discretion in deciding whether to accept this request.
The Competition
The competition comprises a Written Phase and Oral Proceedings.
The oral proceedings that were scheduled to take place in March 2020 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The OC decided that it would use the same moot problem for the competition in 2021. It also decided that teams invited to the March 2020 rounds could elect to participate in the Oral Proceedings in March 2021 so long as at least one original team member remained on the team.
Awards
The following prizes will be awarded:
The Allen & Overy Winner, Oral Proceedings
Runner Up, Oral Proceedings
8 New Square Winner, Best Written Submissions (2020 Teams): The 2nd and 3rd place Powell Gilbert runners-up will also be announced
8 New Square Winner, Best Written Submissions (2021 Teams): The 2nd and 3rd place Powell Gilbert runners-up will also be announced
Best Individual Mooter in the Preliminary Rounds (the Sir Nicholas Pumfrey Award): To be eligible, a mooter must have spoken in at least two moots in the preliminary rounds; in these moots, he or she must have argued at least once for the appellant and at least once for the respondent. Ranking will be undertaken by reference to the average individual score achieved by each eligible mooter in the preliminary rounds The 2nd -5th place Herbert Smith Freehills runners-up will also be announced.
Highest Ranked Team After the Preliminary Rounds
Professor David Vaver Spirit of the Moot Award: This award will be given to a team that best embodies the spirit of mooting, having regard to such qualities as camaraderie, perseverance, respect of fellow competitors, passion, and academic excellence. The winner will be selected by reference to a vote of teams at the Oral Proceedings, along with feedback from judges.
