Finalists of the Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot 2020 Announced
Congratulations to the 28 teams who have been invited to the Oral Proceedings of the 18th Annual Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot from 19th – 21st March 2020.
Bucerius Law School
Goethe University of Frankfurt
Gujarat National Law University
IDC Herzliya
Indiana University Maurer School of Law
Jindal Global Law School
King's College London
Monash University
NALSAR University of Law
National Law Institute University, Bhopal
National Law School of India University, Bangalore
National University of Singapore
Osgoode Hall Law School
Queensland University of Technology
Singapore Management University
Swinburne Law School
University College London
University of Bern
University of Cambridge
University of Delhi
University of Hong Kong
University of Liège
University of New South Wales
University of Ottawa
University of Oxford
University of Sheffield
University of Technology Sydney
University of Windsor
The winning team will receive the Allen & Overy Prize which includes remote mentoring from a member of Allen & Overy’s global IP practice.
The 2020 moot concerns Hotenhoffer Pharmaceuticals Erewhon and Hotenhoffer Lilliput v Republic of Erewhon [2019] HCE 46. This year, the moot covers all three of the main IP regimes, with the appeal grounds relating to: (1) the issuing of a compulsory licence in relation to a pharmaceutical patent; (2) an application to cancel of a company's trade mark portfolio on the basis that the marks have become deceptive; and (3) whether the release of documents by the government – being a selection of documents supplied by a corporate whistleblower – is caught by the quotation exception or a general public interest defence to copyright infringement. The moot problem draws from topical matters in IP law, and covers important questions of policy and doctrine.
Teams will be arguing in front of the Supreme Court of Erewhon, the apex court of a fictional jurisdiction. All teams will be required to participate in four preliminary rounds over two days where they will make submissions as both the Appellant and Respondents. Eight teams will progress to the knock-out rounds. The panel for the Grand Final is traditionally composed of three eminent judges, known for their work in the field of Intellectual Property Law.
We would like to thank Rowan Freeland (former partner at Simmons & Simmons) for leading the marking team and his team of markers for marking the submissions:
Paul Abbott (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer)
Jonathan Ball (Gowling WLG)
Rose Burbidge (Gunnercooke)
Alessandro Cerri (RPC)
Jim Cormack (Pinsent Masons)
Tom Edwards (Allen & Overy)
Katarina Foss-Solbrekk (University of Oxford)
Andy Lee (Brandsmiths)
Eva Stankova (University of Oxford)
Ian Starr (D Young & Co)
Marie White (University of Oxford)
Eleanor Wilson (Virtuoso Legal)
And also a special thanks to Catriona Smith (Wiggin) for supporting the marking process.
We would also like to thank all teams who made a submission this year. For more information on the competition, please refer to this website.