Students Make Waves at INTA’s Asia-Pacific Moot Court Competition in Singapore

INTA hosted its second annual Asia-Pacific (APAC) Moot Court Competition March 1‒2, 2019, at Singapore Management University. This year, the highly interactive regional competition drew 21 participating teams from seven countries.

Building upon the success of the Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition in the United States, INTA launched the APAC Moot Court Competition in 2018 to promote excellence in trademark scholarship.

Participating law students developed their brief writing and oral advocacy skills by applying legal principles to a fictional fact pattern, and advocating their legal positions in a mock courtroom experience.

Moot Court Fact Pattern

This year’s fictional legal problem addressed issues of trademark infringement, likelihood of confusion, and likeliness of association.

The teams reviewed a brief featuring the fictitious case of Blue Fin Surf Sports, Inc. v. Skuyler Finn Enterprises, LLC and Skuyler Finn, a dispute between a surfing equipment retailer and a celebrity surfboarder along with her limited liability company. The claimant, Blue Fin Surf Sports, owned two federally registered trademarks-BLUE FIN SURF SHOP and BLUE FIN BY LULU. Blue Fin Sports sought a preliminary injunction restraining defendants Skuyler Finn Enterprises, LLC, and Skuyler Finn from selling or offering to sell SKUYLER FINN BLUE snowboards in commerce.

The court granted the preliminary injunction, ruling that SKUYLER FINN BLUE, when used for snowboards, would be likely to cause confusion with BLUE FIN BY LULU for surfboards. In addition, the court ordered that the defendants cease all use of the word “Blue,” either by itself or in conjunction with other wording (specifically “Skuyler Finn,” or any confusingly similar designation) as a trademark, brand name, or any other designation for any article for, or connected with, any “board” activity or sport.

Written and Oral Arguments

Before arriving in Singapore for oral arguments, each team was tasked with preparing and submitting written arguments based upon the fictional case. A panel of brief-reading judges then reviewed and scored the submissions.

The competition officially kicked off on March 1 in Singapore with a warm welcome from INTA CEO Etienne Sanz de Acedo. Mr. Sanz de Acedo praised the APAC Moot Court Competition for providing students with an early opportunity to engage in the trademark community, build professional networks, and ultimately advance their careers.

After opening remarks, each team argued before a panel of designated judges. The eight teams with the highest combined oral argument and brief scores were announced at an evening ceremony, and advanced to the next day of the competition.

The following day, three further rounds of oral arguments took place (quarter finals, semifinals, and the grand finale), with the teams scoring highest in the oral argument moving forward at the end of each phase. All participating student teams were invited to watch the finalists compete in the grand finale, and to attend the awards ceremony and reception that evening.

The winning teams received prizes ranging from US $500 to US $3,000 for best team, runner-up team, best scoring brief, second-highest scoring brief, best oral argument, and runner-up in the final oral argument.

Winners:

Winning Team: National University of Singapore, Team 4
Runner-Up Team: National University of Singapore, Team 1
Best Oral Argument: National University of Singapore, Team 4
Runner-Up Oral Argument: School of Excellence in Law, India, Team 12
Best Brief: National University of Singapore, Team 4
Runner-Up Brief: Prince of Songkla University, Faculty of Law, Thailand, Team 3

Finalists:

National University of Singapore, Team 4
School of Excellence, India, Team 12

Semi-Finalists:

National University of Singapore, Team 4
Tamil Nadu National Law University, Team 23
School of Excellence, India, Team 12
National University of Singapore, Team 1

Quarter Finalists:

Gujarat National Law University, India, Team 6
Maharashtra National Law University, India, Team 19
National University of Singapore, Team 1
National University of Singapore, Team 4
SASTRA University, School of Law, India, Team 8
School of Excellence in Law, India, Team 12
Tamil Nadu National Law University, India, Team 23
University of San Agustin College of Law, the Philippines, Team 11

Full List of Schools with Participating Teams:

Banaras Hindu University, Faculty of Law, Varanasi, India
Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Vietnam
Gujarat National Law University, India
Hidayatullah National Law University, India
Jindal Global Law School, India
Maharashtra National Law University, India
Masaryk University in Brno, Faculty of Law, Czech Republic
National University of Singapore
Osmania University, Pendekanti Law College, India
President University, Indonesia
Prince of Songkla University, Faculty of Law, Thailand
San Beda International Law Society, the Philippines
SASTRA University, School of Law, India
School of Excellence in Law, India
Tamil Nadu National Law University, India
University of San Agustin College of Law, the Philippines

Grand Finale Judges:

Mark Lim is Director and Chief Legal Counsel of the Hearings and Mediation Department at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). Mr. Lim is also Senior Faculty at IP Academy. Prior to joining IPOS, Mr. Lim was in private practice handling both contentious and non-contentious IP matters.
Justice Manmohan Singh is a retired Chief Justice of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in India. For 17 years, Justice Singh headed the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry. He is also Chairman of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board.
Justice Valerie Thean is Judge of the Supreme Court in Singapore. Prior to her appointment, Justice Thean served as a Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court, and has played an active role in the development of family law and practice in Singapore.

Brief-Reading Judges:

Marion Heathcote, Davies Collison Cave, Australia
Victor Looi, Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow, Singapore
Salman Ahmed Sheikh, Sheikh Brothers Advocates & Attorneys, Pakistan
Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Vision & Associations, Vietnam
Phuong Tran (Tran Le Luu Phuong), Gateway Law Corporation, Singapore
Anjali Valsangkar, Valsangkar & Associates, India
Yen Vu, Rouse & Co. International LLP, Vietnam
Yan Zhang, Wanhuida Peksung IP Group, China
Cindy Zhen, Wanhuida Peksung IP Group, China

Oral Argument Judges:

Karen Abraham, Shearn Delamore & Co., Malaysia
Alan Adcock, Tilleke & Gibbins, Thailand
Jonathan Agmon, Soroker Agmon Nordman, Advocates & Patent Attorneys, Singapore
Irene Calboli, Texas A&M University School of Law, USA
Darius F. Dalal, Jehangir Gulabbhai & Bilimoria & Daruwalla, India
Son Doan, IPMAX Law Firm, Vietnam
Arjel de Guzman, Sapalo Velez Bundang & Bulilan, Philippines
Farah Namazie, Namazie & Co., Singapore
Max Ng, Gateway Law Corporation, Singapore
Rajesh Ramanathan, Factum Law, India
Parthasarathy Ramawamy, Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan, India
Hemalatha Ramulu, Skrine, Malaysia
Ravi Ravindran, Ravindran Associates LLP, Singapore
Venkat Reddy Donthi, RVR Associates, India
Regina Reyes-Rara, MarksPro Philippines Intellectual Property Firm, the Philippines
Kumar Sudeep, Factum Law, India
Richard Stockton, Banner & Witcoff, Ltd., USA
Ryan Wilson, Sujata Chaudhri IP Attorneys, India

INTA International Moot Court Project Team:

Karen Abraham, Shearn Delamore & Co., Malaysia
George Chan, Simmons & Simmons, Beijing
Zechariah J H Chan, Lee & Lee, Singapore
Karina Dimidijian-Lecomte, Casalonga, France
Karen Fong, Keystone Law, United Kingdom
Marion Heathcote, Davies Collison Cave, Australia
Nick Holmes, Davies Collison Cave, Australia
Julie Katz, Katz Group Group LLC, USA
Kok Keng Lau, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, Singapore
Elizabeth Puthran, Puthran & Associates, India
Mahua Roy Chowdhury, Royzz & Co., India
Stacey Watson, Markery Law, LLC, USA

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