Having also won the 2024 Harold G. Fox Intellectual Property Moot, uOttawa is the only school to have ever won both the national and internationalnorth_eastexternal link competition in the same year.
The team including Jordan Geist, Hannah Goold, and Emily Thompson also won the prize for best written submissions. The rare or perhaps unprecedented accomplishment of winning both the oral and written moot stages is a testament to the strength of these students and uOttawa’s IP stellar advocacy program. In addition, Hannah Goold won a top-4 best speaker award and, in recognition of long-term support for the moot and its students, an inaugural “Moot Champion Award” was given to Professor Jeremy de Beer.
At uOttawa’s Faculty of Law students enrol in a pair of unique courses offering world-class training in all dimensions of IP advocacy: written and oral advocacy in intellectual property. Our students learn experientially in the law school’s Ian G. Scott Courtroom, a fully functional courtroom-classroom where sitting judges hear regular cases, including motions, appeals, judicial reviews and applications.
Arguing their final dress rehearsal in the Supreme Court of Canada was a top highlight of this year’s preparation. Appellate-court Justices Rennie, Gleason, and Locke judged the students as they tested submissions in the Supreme Court building’s imposing courtroom.
The team’s coaches – Professor Jeremy de Beer and CLTS’s in-house litigators at the Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest ClinicDavid Fewer and Christian Clavette – could not be more thrilled with the learning outcomes for our students. While Jordan Geist, Hannah Goold, and Emily Thompson’s razor-sharp intellect and remarkable work ethic will carry them far in their careers, most impressive are the teamwork and selflessness they showed throughout the learning process.
Rehearsals for uOttawa students also involve in-firm mentorship from some of Canada’s top law firms and IP litigators, many of whom are themselves alumni of uOttawa’s IP moot program. This year’s students benefited immensely from working with (in alphabetical order): Tracey Doylenorth_eastexternal link, Jasmine Godfreynorth_eastexternal link, and Ana Nizharadzenorth_eastexternal link at Bennet Jones, Kevin Siunorth_eastexternal link at Gilbert’s; Jenny Hepditchnorth_eastexternal link and Nevena Cekicnorth_eastexternal link at Gowling WLG; Steven Garlandnorth_eastexternal link and Matthew Nortonnorth_eastexternal link at Smart & Biggar; Kaitlyn Margisonnorth_eastexternal link and Michael Forbergnorth_eastexternal link at Olser (Ottawa); Matthew Diskinnorth_eastexternal link and Nathaniel Lipkusnorth_eastexternal link at Osler (Toronto); Laura MacDonaldnorth_eastexternal link at McCarthy Tetrault; and Fred Wu of Wu Lawnorth_eastexternal link. Current Federal Court of Appeal law clerks Hannah Cinel north_eastexternal link& Emma Walshnorth_eastexternal link, and uOttawa moot-winning alumna Abigail Smithnorth_eastexternal link and (now TMU professor) Alexandra Mogyoros north_eastexternal linkwere equally generous in sharing their insights and experiences.
The 2024 moot problemnorth_eastexternal link raised legal issues of patent and design law, as applied to a dispute between rival shoe companies operating in the athletic and fashion industries. Students argued over the novelty of inventions and a “right to repair” consumer goods, as well as the legal lines around functional designs and infringement standards.
Sir Richard Arnold and Lord Justice Colin Birss of the Court of Appeal for England and Wales, and David Stone, who leads the global intellectual property practice at Allen & Overy and sits part time as a Deputy Judge of the High Court of England & Wales, were the Grand Final bench persuaded by the mooters. En route the team faced competition from some of the world’s best law schools and IP programs, including Sciences Po, University of Technology Sydney, Hong Kong University, the University of Oxford, and King’s College London.
Our warmest congratulations to the team!