INTA and Court of Justice Launch Andean Community Moot Court Competition

INTA and the Court of Justice of the Andean Community on August 9 launched the inaugural Andean Community Moot Court Competition. This marks the two organizations’ first moot court competition in the Andean Community, as well as the first time that INTA is conducting a competition in Spanish. Students from law schools in Latin America, as well as other Spanish-speaking law students, may register to participate.

The Andean Moot Court Competition will focus on issues in a specific case related to Andean community law and intellectual property (IP) in the Andean Community, which encompasses Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Students are required to write a brief, and those with qualifying brief scores will compete in virtual oral arguments in December. The registration deadline is September 8.

“This Competition represents the beginning of an academic project and the opening of a space for participatory dialogue between the Court of Justice of the Andean Community and law students, through which it seeks to promote the study, analysis, and specialized research on community law and intellectual property,” said Andean Community Court of Justice Magistrate Gustavo Brito Garcia.

INTA CEO Etienne Sanz de Acedo noted: “We greatly appreciate the collaboration with the Court of Justice of the Andean Community, which brings an added level of value and prestige to the Competition. Law students represent the future of IP, so the more that we can open their eyes to the importance of IP in the legal field and to society at large, the better.”

The new Competition is one of several offered by INTA that give law students from various regions who are interested in IP the opportunity to hone their skills and prepare for their future careers. This week, the Association also announced the winners of two other writing competitions held recently: the Asia-Pacific Moot Court Competition, for law school students outside the United States; and the Ladas Memorial Award, for students and legal professionals worldwide.

The Asia-Pacific Moot Court Competition introduces law school teams to important issues in trademark and unfair competition law in the region. Now in its fourth year, the competition drew 18 four-person teams from Australia, the Czech Republic, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. The students wrote briefs that were judged by two dozen local INTA members.

The winning brief was submitted by a team from the National University of Singapore, composed of Chen Rong, Ho Kok Hean, Xiao Han Han, and Song Yihang. A team from the National University of Singapore has achieved a top spot every year since the competition began in 2017–2018.

The judges awarded second place to another team from the National University of Singapore, consisting of Lo Yin Pen, Navneeth Kanagavelu, Chen Ton Hao Jarrett, and Adriel Ho Jian Yao. A team from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law in Vietnam ranked third—Nguyen Dao Khanh Linh, Nguyen Vu Thuy Quynh, Doan Phuong Uyen, and Nguyen Thanh Chuong.

In addition, the winners of the Ladas Memorial Award are, in the student category, Lauren Ingram of the American University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., USA, and Michael Stephenson at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in Pennsylvania, USA; and in the professional category, Laura Heymann, Chancellor Professor of Law at the William and Mary Law School in Virginia, USA.

This long-standing annual award is presented for a paper on trademark law or a matter that directly relates to or affects trademarks. INTA established the award in memory of Stephen P. Ladas, a distinguished practitioner and author, a named partner in the firm of Ladas & Parry LLP, and an IP Hall of Fame inductee.

INTA’s original and ongoing Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition in the United States and the Asia-Pacific Moot Court Competition inspired the creation of the Andean Community Moot Court Competition.

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of this article, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest.

© 2021 International Trademark Association