About INTA
Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition
The Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition is an annual event honoring Saul Lefkowitz, whose entire distinguished career was dedicated to the development of trademark and unfair competition law.
The Competition introduces law students to important issues arising in U.S. trademark and unfair competition law. Students develop their brief writing and oral advocacy skills in a mock courtroom experience.
It is open to teams of students from U.S. accredited law schools. Approximately 80 teams of law students participate each year.
2020-2021 Competition Materials
How can I enter the Competition?
To enter, students are expected to:
- Write a brief reflecting the issues in the Fact Pattern/Problem.
- Argue the case in regional competitions before a panel of volunteer attorneys and judges from various district and other courts, and two winning teams from each region argue the case in a national competition before members of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
When and where does the Competition take place?
Historically, the Regional Competition has taken place in February in various U.S. cities: Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles, California; New York, New York; and San Francisco, California. Then, two teams from each of the regional competitions advance to the National Finals in Washington, D.C. in March.
Who is Saul Lefkowitz?
Saul Lefkowitz (1919–1990) began his career as part of the great post–World War II class of trademark examiners who were recruited to examine applications being filed under the newly enacted Lanham Act.
After rising through the ranks, in 1958, he began serving on the newly created Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) and served continuously for 23 years, including the last six (1975–1981) as Chairman. From the very beginning of his tenure, he was recognized as the intellectual leader of the TTAB, with his decisions immediately recognizable by their length and thoroughness.
Mr. Lefkowitz’s contributions to the development of trademark law and the education of the trademark bar extended far beyond his published TTAB opinions. A bibliography of his articles in The Trademark Reporter would exceed a dozen titles. After retiring from the TTAB in 1981, he joined Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP, as of counsel, a position he held until his death. In private practice, he served as a brilliant expert and consultant to practitioners around the world.
Can I enter the competition if I am matriculated part-time at my law school?
Yes. Team members must be matriculated in a full- or part-time Juris Doctor (J.D.) program in the law school they represent. Proof of current registration in law school for each team member must be attached to the team’s online entry form. Proof of registration may include a student ID card or a letter from the registrar’s office. Allowed files types are jpg, gif, png, pdf with a maximum file size of 2MB. No team member may hold a law degree from a law school in the United States. Please refer to the Official Rules for more information.
Can an LL.M student enter the competition?
No. An LL.M student who has obtained his/her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree may not enter the competition. However, if a student is pursuing a joint J.D./LL.M program, he/she may enter the competition.
Is my school allowed to enter more than one team in the competition? How many team members are allowed on a team?
Each school may enter up to two teams. The competition is open to teams of law school students from any U.S. law school so long as graduation from such school renders its students eligible for admission to a state bar in the United States. Teams may consist of two to four students from the same school.
Is a team allowed to replace team members after submitting the team’s entry form?
We must receive the team’s completed entry form within one month from the time we began accepting applications.
After submitting the entry form, a team may replace team members up until the filing of briefs on January 5, 2021, 5:00 pm ET. After this date, the team must receive consent from the Lefkowitz Committee by emailing [email protected] in order to replace team members.
A team replacing any team members must submit proof of matriculation for the new members.
Is there a registration fee to enter the Competition?
There is no registration fee to enter the Competition but teams are responsible for their own travel expenses to the Regional Competition. We will reimburse those teams that advance to the National Finals for their reasonable hotel and transportation expenses for attending the Finals, up to a maximum of $1,000 per team.
All receipts for travel and/or hotel expenses must be submitted to us no later than March 21, 2021. After this date, we will not consider travel expenses for reimbursement and the team (or law school) will be responsible. Please note that we will not reimburse transportation and/or hotel expenses if either are purchased using frequent flier miles or reward points.
How many sides is a team expected to brief? How many sides is a team expected to argue during oral arguments?
Each team is randomly assigned one side to brief; the team will then brief all issues from that side’s perspective. For oral arguments, each team will argue both sides.
Can briefs be emailed/mailed/hand delivered to INTA’s office?
No. Briefs cannot be emailed, mailed, or hand delivered to us. Each team shall file its brief as a PDF file by uploading it online. We must receive the brief no later than January 5, 2021, 5:00 pm ET. Briefs received after this date may not be considered.
Briefs are not returned to the teams after the Competition. Please refer to the Official Rules for more information.
Are past winning briefs shared with participating teams?
We do not share past winning briefs.
Can one team member participate in the oral arguments at the Regional and National Competitions?
No. Each team must designate two team members to argue during oral arguments at the Regional and National Competitions.
Can coaches and/or faculty advisors observe the oral arguments?
Team members, coaches, faculty advisors, or any other person affiliated with the team are permitted to attend only those arguments in which that team is participating. Please refer to the Official Rules for more information.
Are individual and team scores released to students who participate in the Competition?
We do not release individual and team scores. After the National Finals, we will notify each team by email of its oral argument, brief, and overall rankings in its region and nationwide. We will post Regional and National Finals winners, along with names of all participating schools, on our website.
2019 – 2020 Winners
Best Team: Notre Dame Law School (Chicago-66)
Second Place Team: Michigan State University College of Law (Chicago-76)
Dolores K Hanna Best Brief: Notre Dame Law School (Chicago-66)
Second Place Brief: University of Iowa College of Law (Dallas-3)
Best Oralist Team: Michigan State University College of Law (Chicago-76)
Second Place Oralist Team: Georgia State University (Atlanta-32)
2019 – 2020 Sponsors
We appreciate the generous support of our sponsors: Finnegan and the INTA Foundation.
2018 – 2019 Winners
Winning Team: Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center (Briana Falcon and William Heaton)
Second Place Team: Golden Gate University School of Law (Katie Christensen, Kyndal Currie, Amy Saechao and Gianne Carlo Nalangan)
Dolores K. Hanna Best Brief Award: Golden Gate University School of Law (Katie Christensen, Kyndal Currie, Amy Saechao and Gianne Carlo Nalangan)
Second Place Brief: Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center (Briana Falcon and Wiliam Heaton)
Best Oral Argument: Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center (Briana Falcon and William Heaton)
Second Place Oral Argument Team: American University Washington College of Law (Kathryn Smucker, Lauren Mattioni and Elliot LeParne)
Regional Award Winners:
Atlanta:
University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law
University of North Carolina School of Law
Chicago:
DePaul University College of Law
University of Wisconsin School of Law
Dallas:
Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center
University of Oklahoma College of Law
Los Angeles:
Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law
Pepperdine University School of Law
New York:
American University Washington College of Law
Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law
San Francisco:
Golden Gate University School of Law
Gonzaga School of Law
2017 – 2018 Winners
Winning Team: Chicago-Kent College of Law, IIT (Brittany Kaplan and Evan Kline-Wedeen)
Second Place Team: University of California Berkeley School of Law (Thao Thai and Kelsey Schuetz)
Dolores K. Hanna Best Brief Award: University of California Berkeley School of Law
Second Place Brief: Chicago-Kent College of Law, IIT (Brittany Kaplan and Evan Kline-Wedeen)
Best Oral Argument: Chicago-Kent College of Law, IIT (Brittany Kaplan and Evan Kline-Wedeen)
Second Place Oral Argument Team: University of California Los Angeles School of Law (Aidan Welsh and Julia Markham-Cameron)
Regional Award Winners
New York:
Georgetown University Law Center
University of Maine School of Law
Chicago:
Chicago-Kent College of Law, IIT
Notre Dame Law School
Atlanta:
Georgia State University College of Law
Georgia State University College of Law
Dallas:
University of Oklahoma College of Law
SMU Dedman School of Law
San Francisco:
University of California Berkeley School of Law
University of California Hasting College of Law
Los Angeles:
Pepperdine University School of Law
University of California Los Angeles School of Law
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