This year’s hypothetical IP law problem concerns alleged patent infringement and extended passing off in the context of sales of sparkling wine of dubious quality in the fictional state of Erewhon.
The current Bucerius IP mooting team consists of Katharina Watzke, Jakob Rehder and Felix Tann, all third year students. They are actively supported by Karsten Windler, Fabian Flüchter (both Bucerius IP Center), Monty Silley and James Linscott (both Foreign Language Communication Programme).
Last trimester, the team diligently worked on finalising two sets of 3000-word written submissions to be handed up to the court, in the hope of being one of just 24 teams given the honour of going through to the oral rounds. Over 50 international teams made submissions to the court, and the organisers of the competition indicated that the standard of the written arguments was significantly higher than in previous years.
So there was delight and elation all round when the team received a formal invitation to participate in this year’s oral arguments, to be held from 16-18 March 2017 at Pembroke College, Oxford. We are proud to say that this is the third year in a row a team from Bucerius qualified for the oral rounds. It is also noteworthy that we are the only team from continental Europe and one of only three teams from a civil law jurisdiction to be accepted.
Rigorous oral mooting training sessions have been under way in preparation for this prestigious event. We would like to say a big thank you to our dedicated mooting team for all the hard work and enthusiasm they have shown so far. The dreaming spires of Oxford are calling!
