The Centre for Law, Technology and Society is extremely proud to foster an active learning environment and provide such unique experiences to our students! These accolades further enhance the University of Ottawa’s national and international reputation for mooting excellence in general and in IP law specifically. It marks the 4th time in 16 years uOttawa has won the moot, the 4th time in the last 6 years uOttawa has been to the moot finals, and uOttawa’s 10th straight year of advancing to or past the semi-finals.
This year’s uOttawa Fox team comprised captain Melissa Dupuis-Crane, Samantha Moreau and Emily Chu for the appellant, and Ronald Cheung and Madison Venugopal for the respondent. Professor Jeremy de Beer coached the team together with the Centre’s own in-house IP litigators, CIPPIC General Counsel David Fewer and Staff Counsel Christian Clavette.
Emily Chu and Samantha Moreau were the highest-ranked appellant team after the preliminary round, and Ronald Cheung and Madison Venugopal were the 3rd-highest-ranked respondent team after the preliminary round. Both teams argued before judges from the Federal Court and Ontario Superior Court, and some of Canada’s leading IP practitioners.
During the final round, Emily Chu and Samantha Moreau handled questions with confidence and grace, persuading an esteemed bench including Justice Côté of the Supreme Court of Canada, Chief Justice De Montigny of the Federal Court of Appeal, Chief Justice Crampton of the Federal Court, Judge Stark of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and Justice Thorburn of the Ontario Court of Appeal. Emily Chu and Samantha Moreau were awarded the Harold G. Fox Cup for the winning team.
In addition to the team’s strong oral advocacy, they also demonstrated persuasive written advocacy through award-winning factums. Melissa Dupuis-Crane, Ronald Cheung and Madison Venugopal were presented with the Gordon F. Henderson Award for the best respondent factum. Melisa Dupuis-Crane, Emily Chu, and Samantha Moreau were awarded the runner-up best appellant factum.
uOttawa students participating in the Fox IP Moot join colleagues competing in the Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot and the Canadian Copyright Policy Moot together in a pair of boutique courses taught only at uOttawa: Written Advocacy in Intellectual Property during the first term, and Oral Advocacy in Intellectual Property the next.
The team’s success is also attributable to their extensive preparation in the Ian G. Scott Courtroom, the University of Ottawa Common Law Section’s fully functioning courtroom constructed inside the Faculty of Law.
The team’s success was only possible because of the generous support of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa, which alongside a record 25 other Fox moot sponsors funded students’ participation in the moot. Special thanks also go to alumni of uOttawa’s IP mooting program, who are now lawyers practicing at Smart & Biggar and Gowling WLG, as well as Justice Guy Régimbald of the Federal Court, all of whom provided feedback during team rehearsals.
Thanks also goes to the many students and professors who helped develop the team’s written and oral advocacy skills, including the Fox team’s counterparts in the Oxford and Copyright Policy moots.
The Centre for Law, Technology and Society presents its warmest congratulations to the team!