Emir Aly Crowne-Mohammed is an Assistant Professor at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law and Co-Chair of the Fox Moot Committee. Cristina Mihalceanu is a Third Year Law Student at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law and Member of the Fox Moot Committee.
The inaugural launch of the Harold G. Fox Moot, which took place a year ago, was an outstanding success and received positive feedback from the IP bar, judiciary, academia, students and aficionados of IP law. The Harold G. Fox Moot was founded by myself and Mohamed Hashim (Windsor Law Class of ’09), and the partnership of Dimock Stratton LLP. It is sponsored by Dimock Stratton LLP and administered by a committee of of jurists, practitioners, academics and students.
Aside from Dimock Stratton LLP, there are more than a dozen other firms which have sponsored various portions of the Moot (http://ipmootcanada.ca/sponsors/). Bereskin & Parr, for the second year in a row, will be sponsoring the hotel accommodations for out of town competitors; and The Harold G. Fox Education Fund has also provided funding to cover some of the administrative and logistical costs of the moot.
Building on the success of the inaugural event in 2009, this year’s 2nd Annual Harold G. Fox Moot will be held on Friday, February 19th and Saturday, February 20th, 2010. The festivities will begin with the inaugural Fox IP Moot Lecture which features His Honour Judge Michael Fysh QC, SC of the UK Patents County Court. In the quest for better administration of justice and inexpensive resolution of IP disputes, Judge Fysh will deliver a lecture on “Specialty Intellectual Property Courts: Where have all the hours gone?” The luncheon lecture will be held at noon on Friday, February 19th at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel and is sponsored Bennett Jones LLP and Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP.
Students, professors and other participants then make their way to the Federal Court in Toronto where the two (2) day moot competition will take place. Participants from seven (7) law schools (McGill University, Osgoode Hall Law School, Queen's University, University of Alberta, University of Western Ontario, University of Windsor, and University of Ottawa) will delve into the fictitious problem before them, which deals with patentable subject matter. Mooters have also been provided with a complimentary copy of my recent book (co-authored with Mohamed Hashim) entitled The Essential Guide to Mooting: A Handbook for Law Students courtesy of Irwin Law.
In this year’s problem, “Seedy Enterprises Ltd.” seeks to impeach Dead Bull Group Inc.’s patent titled “Administration of a Tonic”. The patent in issue teaches use of a grapefruit seed extract to “increase alertness and mental acuity in the short term, despite pre-existing conditions of exhaustion or mental lassitude”. At trial, the patent was declared invalid on the basis that “the subject-matter claimed is not patentable as it is a method of medical treatment”. On appeal, the court took the position that the “current Patent Act does not itself contain any specific provision that bars the patentability of methods of medical treatment”, and therefore overturned the trial decision.
The public is welcome and encouraged to attend the oral arguments portions of the competition. For more information on the moot schedule, visit: http://ipmootcanada.ca/info-for-participants/.
The students’ legal arguments will be heard by this year’s panellists, which, once again includes a superb line up of esteemed jurists of the Supreme, Ontario, and Federal Courts and experienced practitioners from the IP bar. Indeed, the support for the Harold G. Fox Moot has been tremendous. As a result, the final panel has been expanded to include 5 panellists, including Justice Louis LeBel of the Supreme Court of Canada, Judge Michael Fysh QC, SC of the UK Patents County Court, Justice Edgar Sexton of the Federal Court of Appeal, Justice Eleanore Cronk of the Ontario Court of Appeal and Justice Roger Hughes of the Federal Court of Canada.
The second day of mooting will begin with a breakfast at the Federal Court sponsored by Torys LLP. The day’s activities will end with a series of events at the Law Society of Upper Canada, Osgoode Hall. Osgoode Hall is a heritage building located just a few steps from the Federal Court. The Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony will be held in the Convocation Hall, a Hall boasting ten gorgeous stained glass heraldic windows covering 4,000 years of law.
A Cocktail Reception, sponsored by Ridout & Maybee LLP and Ogilvy Renault LLP, will precede the Gala Dinner and Award Ceremony. The Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony itself is sponsored by Heenan Blaikie LLP, Gilbert’s LLP, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP and Cameron MacKendrick LLP. Wine will be sponsored by Deeth Williams Wall LLP. At the Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony, the best mooting team will be presented with the Harold G. Fox Cup. In addition, there is an award for best oral advocate (the Donald F. Sim Award) and for best factum writers (the Gordon F. Henderson Award). The Awards are sponsored by the Canadian Bar Association, the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, and Carswell, a division of Thomson Reuters Canada Limited. The Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony will then be followed by a Cocktail Reception sponsored by Smart & Biggar.
All in all the Harold G. Fox Moot promises to be a tremendously wonderful event.
Aside from the dedication and support of our sponsors & the tireless efforts of the members of the Fox Moot Committee, we also wish to acknowledge the continued support of the judiciary and the practising bar. And, most importantly, we wish to acknowledge the dedication of the professors and students who spend countless hours preparing for the moot – without them, there would be no moot.