The 2012 International Intellectual Property Moot and Conversazione
The annual International Intellectual Property Moot and Conversazione were held on 16 and 17 March 2012 at St Catherine’s College. This event is the highlight of the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre’s (OIPRC) academic year. The event brings together students, academics, practitioners and judges in intellectual property to Oxford for two days of competition and lively academic discussion. A total of 30 submissions were received for 20 places in the oral finals in Oxford. Lorna Brazell, a partner at Bird & Bird LLP, led the short-listing panel. The short-listed teams were from Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, France, Germany, Canada, the USA and the United Kingdom. The teams mooted on a problem taking in issues of privacy law, human rights, copyright as a property right, and proportionality.
On the first evening of the moot, the Fourth Annual Intellectual Property Conversazione was held. A distinguished panel of speakers were invited to speak on 'Intellectual Property Behind Closed Doors'. Among them were well-known faces including Max Mosley and Mark Stephens. Simon Malynicz from 3 New Square and Professor Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation from the Oxford Internet Institute and academic member of the OIPRC. The conversation then continued on with dinner at the Hall at St Catherine’s College. The evening’s proceedings were moderated by our Masters of Ceremonies, HH Michael Fysh QC who had the mooters, judges and speakers in stitches.
From left to right: Professor Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, Max Mosley, HH Michael Fysh QC, Mark Stephens, Simon Malynicz
The following day, it was back to the serious business of competition. The semi-finalists came from four different continents. They were University of Oxford, Queensland University of Technology, National University of Singapore and University of Ottawa. The final was between the University of Oxford and Queensland University of Technology, judged by Lord Justice Kitchin, Lord Justice Mummery and Mr Justice Floyd. Queensland University of Technology emerged as the overall winner, narrowly beating Oxford. It is Queensland’s third win at this moot.
The finalists with the judges
More information is available on the Intellectual Property Moot website.
The OIPRC and the Faculty of Law are grateful to Bristows and 8 New Square for making this moot possible.
