The IP Advocacy course allows a small number of elite students to obtain the practical skills and experience they need to be outstanding intellectual property lawyers. Students are rigorously trained in written and oral advocacy, and acquire first-hand experience in the art of winning arguments.

University of Ottawa Law students have the opportunity to participate in three intellectual property moots: the Harold G. Fox Canadian Intellectual Property Moot, the Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot, and the Copyright Policy Making Moot.

The Faculty of Law’s mooting program has garnered increasing prestige and attention in recent years due to its exceptional performances in national and international competitions; our success at these IP moots has been particularly extraordinary. Our students have won both Harold G. Fox Canadian Intellectual Property Moot and the Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot several times and gather numerous awards over the years.

Moot tryouts occur annually in the fall.

Official academic information regarding moots are available through the Common Law Section's Student Centre Website.

The Fox Intellectual Property Moot focuses on practical problems of Canadian domestic intellectual property. It is perhaps the single best opportunity you’ll have during law school to network with and impress the who’s who of Canada’s IP bar and judiciary. Competition typically involves about a half-dozen teams representing law schools primarily in Ontario but potentially from across Canada.

The University of Ottawa team may be comprised of up to 4 students. In making selections, strong preference will be given to 2nd year students, because one of the Fox Moot prizes is guaranteed entry and paid travel (by Dimock Stratton, LLP) to compete in the Oxford Moot the following year. The Fox IP Moot is also ideally suited to second-year students because it presents an incredible, practical opportunity to enhance your job prospects.

The Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot involves a combination of international and comparative domestic and foreign law. Competing and succeeding against the world’s most prestigious schools, in the historic environment of Oxford, can’t be beat. Participants must find, synthesize and cite law from throughout the world, but especially the European Union, United States, United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries. Teams from universities including some of the world’s most prestigious institutions in many different countries compete in the Oxford Moot.

The University of Ottawa team may include up to 3 participants. In making selections, strong preference will be given to 3rd year students from the previous year’s Fox Moot team. As part of their work on the Oxford Moot, these 3rd year students will be expected to mentor and support the Fox Moot team of 2nd year students.

The Centre for Law, Technology and Society is participating in a policy moot created by Heritage Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.

Selected students will participate in a moot unlike any other. Rather than preparing a factum, we’ll teach you the art of a different sort of persuasive writing: the “Memorandum to Cabinet”. And instead of arguing before judges, you’ll be trained to persuade Cabinet Ministers and other senior policymakers that your ideas should become law. This course stems from a collaboration between the Departments of Canadian Heritage (PCH) and Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), and the faculties of law at schools across Canada. 

Teams of students will research and prepare a thorough policy report, prepared as a Memorandum to Cabinet, under the supervision of university professors, departmental officials and policy experts, in response to one of three policy thematics. The thematics will be provided by the Copyright and International Trade Policy Branch of PCH and the Marketplace Framework Policy Branch of ISED, corresponding to current policy issues identified by the branches in the course of their work on copyright. The teams will be called to present orally their work before a panel of experts and officials – such as policy analysts, academics, industry stakeholders and political decision makers.

In mid-September, you must submit to the Common Law Secretariat office a hard-copy application package addressed to Professors Jeremy deBeer and Daimsis, including:

• A brief cover letter indicating and ranking the moots you are applying for;
• A curriculum vitae;
• Your most recent law school transcript (unofficial copies);
• A 2-page excerpt from a writing sample; and
• Your current course schedule.

Official academic information regarding moots are available through the Common Law Section's Student Centre Website.

For more information

Prof. Jeremy de Beer
Coordinator, Moots in Intellectual Property, Common Law Section
jeremy.debeer@uOttawa.ca