The Ladas Memorial Award, supported by the law firm of Ladas & Parry LLP and the INTA Foundation, was established in memory of the outstanding contributions to international intellectual property law made by the distinguished practitioner and author Stephen P. Ladas.  His contributions included not only two major books on the subject of intellectual property, "The International Protection of Literary and Artistic Property", published in 1938, and "Patents, Trademarks and Related Rights - National and International Protection", published in 1975, but also participation in the 1958 revision of the Paris Convention as a member of the United States delegation. The purpose of the Ladas Memorial Award is to provide an incentive to further develop interest in the field of trademarks and to enhance the general understanding of this discipline. The Competition is open to all U.S. and international students, practitioners and academics interested in trademarks and trademark law. The Award is presented once a year in two author categories: (1)    Student (2)    Professional To be eligible to compete in the Student category, authors must be enrolled as either full- or part-time law or graduate students. For students outside the United States, university enrollment is acceptable. To be eligible to compete in the Professional category, authors must be legal practitioners, business professionals and/or academics. No restrictions regarding level of experience or years in practice apply. In each category, the Award is given to the paper judged best on the subject of trademark law or a matter that directly relates to or affects trademarks. The Ladas Award carries with it a US $2,000 cash award and a set of Stephen P. Ladas’ three-volume treatise. Award winners are also invited to attend the 2008 INTA Gala in Berlin, Germany at INTA’s 130th Annual Meeting. At the Gala, the winner will be recognized before the outstanding volunteers and leaders of the Association. The student winner will receive a travel and lodging stipend of up to US $1,000 to attend the Gala. 2009 Ladas Memorial Award Winners Student Category Winner Philipp G. Sandner is a Ph.D. candidate at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen (University of Munich) in Munich, Germany. Mr. Sandner won the Ladas Award in the Student Category for his paper, Trademark Filing Strategies and Their Valuation: Creating, Hedging, Modernizing, and Extending Brands. Professional Category Winner Thomas C. Folsom (full bio) is an Associate Professor, Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, VA. Professor Folsom won the Ladas Award in the Professional Category for his paper, Space Pirates, Hitchhikers, Guides, and the Public Interest: Transformational Trademark Law in Cyberspace. Past Ladas Memorial Award Winners and Winning Papers Funding for the Ladas Memorial Award is provided by the law firm of Ladas & Parry LLP and the INTA Foundation.