About INTA

Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition

SAUL_LEFKOWITZ_2025

The Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition is an annual event honoring Saul Lefkowitz, whose entire distinguished career was dedicated to the development of trademark and unfair competition law.

The Competition introduces law students to important issues arising in U.S. trademark and unfair competition law. Students develop their brief writing and oral advocacy skills in a mock courtroom experience.

It’s open to teams of students from U.S. accredited law schools. Approximately 80 teams of law students participate each year.

REGISTER HERE

2024-2025 Competition Timeline

Registration Launch—Registration is now live!
Registration Close—Monday, November 11, 2024 (5:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time)
INTA Foundation Regional Travel Scholarship Application Deadline—Monday, November 11, 2024 (5:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time)
Briefs Due—Friday, January 3, 2025 (5:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time)
Regional Competition
- Saturday, February 1, 2025: Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles, California; New York, New York; and San Francisco, California
- • Saturday, February 8, 2025: Atlanta, Georgia
National Finals—Saturday, March 8, 2025

Note: The deadlines for team registration and the INTA Foundation Scholarship Application have been extended to Monday, November 11, 2024.

2024-2025 Competition Materials

INTA Foundation x Lefkowitz Regional Travel Scholarship

INTA Foundation is delighted to offer a regional travel scholarship for this year’s Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition. We are driven by our mission to ensure monetary constraints do not prevent students with a passion for intellectual property from achieving their fullest potential. Recipients will receive funding for travel and accommodation expenses related to attending the regional oral argument rounds of the competition.

APPLY NOW

About the INTA Foundation

The INTA Foundation is a charitable organization working to expand educational and professional development opportunities in intellectual property (IP) for diverse, under-represented populations around the world. Our mission is to provide access to education and outreach activities in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and to support individuals and organizations around the world whose work impact these important issues. Learn more about the INTA Foundation.

Who Can Apply

Selection Criteria

Why Apply

Application Requirements

To apply, complete our application form with the following information:

Law School name and contact information
Student names
Undergraduate and law school transcripts
Student resumes
A 500-word essay on how the scholarship would help your team further the goals of the INTA Foundation, particularly in providing opportunities to economically disadvantaged and underrepresented students with IP-oriented career aspirations.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I enter the Competition?

To enter, students are expected to:

Write a brief reflecting the issues in the Fact Pattern/Problem.
Argue the case in regional competitions before a panel of volunteer attorneys and judges from various district and other courts, and two winning teams from each region argue the case in a national competition before members of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Register and enter your submission here.

When and where does the Competition take place?

Historically, the Regional Competition has taken place in February in various U.S. cities: Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles, California; New York, New York; and San Francisco, California. Then, two teams from each of the regional competitions advance to the National Finals in Washington, D.C. in March.

The next Regional Competition will take place on Saturday, February 1, 2025.

Who is Saul Lefkowitz?

Saul Lefkowitz (1919–1990) began his career as part of the great post–World War II class of trademark examiners who were recruited to examine applications being filed under the newly enacted Lanham Act.

After rising through the ranks, in 1958, he began serving on the newly created Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) and served continuously for 23 years, including the last six (1975–1981) as Chairman. From the very beginning of his tenure, he was recognized as the intellectual leader of the TTAB, with his decisions immediately recognizable by their length and thoroughness.

Mr. Lefkowitz’s contributions to the development of trademark law and the education of the trademark bar extended far beyond his published TTAB opinions. A bibliography of his articles in The Trademark Reporter would exceed a dozen titles. After retiring from the TTAB in 1981, he joined Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP, as of counsel, a position he held until his death. In private practice, he served as a brilliant expert and consultant to practitioners around the world.

Can I enter the competition if I’m matriculated part-time at law school?

Yes. Team members must be matriculated in a full- or part-time Juris Doctor (J.D.) program in the law school they represent. Proof of current registration in law school for each team member must be attached to the team’s online entry form. Proof of registration may include a student ID card or a letter from the registrar’s office. Allowed files types are jpg, gif, png, pdf with a maximum file size of 2MB. No team member may hold a law degree from a law school in the United States. Please refer to the Official Rules for more information.

Can an LL.M student enter the competition?

Is my school allowed to enter more than one team in the competition? How many team members are allowed on a team?

Is a team allowed to replace team members after submitting the team’s entry form?

We must receive the team’s completed entry form by Monday, November 11, 2024 (5:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time).

After submitting the entry form, a team may replace team members up until the filing of briefs on Friday, January 3, 2025, at 5:00 pm Eastern Time. After this date, the team must receive consent from the Lefkowitz Project Team by emailing competitions [@] inta.org in order to replace team members.

A team replacing any team members must submit proof of matriculation for the new members.

Is there a registration fee to enter the Competition?

There is no registration fee to enter the Competition but teams are responsible for their own travel expenses to the Regional Competition. (Teams in need of financial assistance for regional travel are encouraged to apply for the INTA Foundation Regional Travel Scholarship.)

We will reimburse those teams that advance to the National Finals for their reasonable hotel and transportation expenses for attending the Finals, up to a maximum of $1,000 per team.

All receipts for travel and/or hotel expenses must be submitted to us no later than Friday, March 21, 2025. After this date, we will not consider travel expenses for reimbursement and the team (or law school) will be responsible. Please note that we will not reimburse transportation and/or hotel expenses if either are purchased using frequent flier miles or reward points.

How many sides is a team expected to brief? How many sides is a team expected to argue during oral arguments?

Can briefs be emailed/mailed/hand delivered to INTA’s office?

Are past winning briefs shared with participating teams?

Can one team member participate in the oral arguments at the Regional and National Competitions?

Can coaches and/or faculty advisors observe the oral arguments?

Are individual and team scores released to students who participate in the Competition?

Past Winners

2023-2024 Winners

First Place Overall Winner: Loyola University

Second Place Overall Winner: University of St. Thomas School of Law

Best Oralist: University of St. Thomas School of Law

Second Place Oralist: University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law

Best Brief: Texas A&M University School of Law

Second Place Brief: Loyola University

2022-2023 Winners

First Place Overall Winner: UCLA School of Law (Sophia DiFillipo and Samantha Frazier)

Second Place Overall Winner: University of San Diego School of Law (Devon Esguerra and Matt Gordon)

Best Oralist: Chicago-Kent College of Law (Alyssa Yoshino, Connor Larson, and Keaton Smith)

Second Place Oralist: Emory University School of Law (Kevin Doung, Alyssa Gill, Kayla Lee, and Gianna Mercandetti)

Best Brief: Yale Law School (Natalie Nogueira, Jerry Ma, and Paul Meosky)

Second Place Brief: UCLA School of Law (Sophia DiFillipo and Samantha Frazier)

Regional Award Winners:

Atlanta

Liberty University School of Law
Emory University School of Law

Chicago

Notre Dame Law School
Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology

Dallas

Texas A&M University School of Law
Drake University Law School

Los Angeles

UCLA School of Law
University of San Diego School of Law

New York

Yale Law School
University of New Hampshire School of Law, Franklin Pierce Center for IP

San Francisco

Gonzaga School of Law
University of California, Berkeley, School of Law

2021-2022 Winners

First Place Overall Winner: UC Hastings College of the Law (Sabrina Tran, Megan Pham, and Hunter Morrisey)

Second Place Overall Winner: Emory University School of Law (Alyssa Gill and Kevin Duong)

Best Oralist: UC Hastings College of the Law (Connor Moldo, Marcus Grimes, and Jessica Ng)

Second Place Oralist: Emory University School of Law (Alyssa Gill and Kevin Duong)

Dolores K. Hanna Best Brief Winner: UC Hastings College of the Law (Sabrina Tran, Megan Pham, and Hunter Morrisey)

Second Place Brief Winner: University of North Carolina School of Law (Megan Coates, Meg Daly, Andrew Coyle, and Sabrina Shah)

2020-2021 Winners

2019-2020 Winners

Best Team: Notre Dame Law School (Chicago-66)

Second Place Team: Michigan State University College of Law (Chicago-76)

Dolores K Hanna Best Brief: Notre Dame Law School (Chicago-66)

Second Place Brief: University of Iowa College of Law (Dallas-3)

Best Oralist Team: Michigan State University College of Law (Chicago-76)

Second Place Oralist Team: Georgia State University (Atlanta-32)

2019-2020 Sponsors

We appreciate the generous support of our sponsors: Finnegan and the INTA Foundation.

2018-2019 Winners

Winning Team: Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center (Briana Falcon and William Heaton)

Second Place Team: Golden Gate University School of Law (Katie Christensen, Kyndal Currie, Amy Saechao and Gianne Carlo Nalangan)

Dolores K. Hanna Best Brief Award: Golden Gate University School of Law (Katie Christensen, Kyndal Currie, Amy Saechao and Gianne Carlo Nalangan)

Second Place Brief: Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center (Briana Falcon and Wiliam Heaton)

Best Oral Argument: Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center (Briana Falcon and William Heaton)

Second Place Oral Argument Team: American University Washington College of Law (Kathryn Smucker, Lauren Mattioni and Elliot LeParne)

Regional Award Winners:

Atlanta:
University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law
University of North Carolina School of Law

Chicago:
DePaul University College of Law
University of Wisconsin School of Law

Dallas:
Louisiana State University, Paul M. Hebert Law Center
University of Oklahoma College of Law

Los Angeles:
Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law
Pepperdine University School of Law

New York:
American University Washington College of Law
Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law

San Francisco:
Golden Gate University School of Law
Gonzaga School of Law

2017-2018 Winners

Winning Team: Chicago-Kent College of Law, IIT (Brittany Kaplan and Evan Kline-Wedeen)

Second Place Team: University of California Berkeley School of Law (Thao Thai and Kelsey Schuetz)

Dolores K. Hanna Best Brief Award: University of California Berkeley School of Law

Second Place Brief: Chicago-Kent College of Law, IIT (Brittany Kaplan and Evan Kline-Wedeen)

Best Oral Argument: Chicago-Kent College of Law, IIT (Brittany Kaplan and Evan Kline-Wedeen)

Second Place Oral Argument Team: University of California Los Angeles School of Law (Aidan Welsh and Julia Markham-Cameron)

Regional Award Winners

New York:
Georgetown University Law Center
University of Maine School of Law

Chicago:
Chicago-Kent College of Law, IIT
Notre Dame Law School

Atlanta:
Georgia State University College of Law
Georgia State University College of Law

Dallas:
University of Oklahoma College of Law
SMU Dedman School of Law

San Francisco:
University of California Berkeley School of Law
University of California Hasting College of Law

Los Angeles:
Pepperdine University School of Law
University of California Los Angeles School of Law

Questions about the Competition? Please contact us.