31st Annual Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition

by Charles F. Haisch
2004 National Director

The national finals of the Thirty-First Annual Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition were held this year on April 14–16 at the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building in Washington, DC. D. Ryan Nayar and J. Nicholas Bunch of University of Texas School of Law won the final round and were awarded the AIPLA Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Award of $2,000. David Twitchell and Jessica Kwak of University of Minnesota Law School took runner-up honors and received the Irving Marcus Award of $1,000, sponsored by Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, PC, and presented by Michael McCabe.

D. Ryan Nayar and J. Nicholas Bunch of University of Texas School of Law won the final round and were awarded the AIPLA Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Award. (pictured from left to right) Judge William Curtis Bryson, D. Ryan Nayar, Judge Pauline Newman, J. Nicholas Bunch, Judge Sharon Prost

The competition opened with an AIPLA-sponsored breakfast at the Hotel Washington on Wednesday, April 14. Charles Haisch, the national director of the competition, and Beth Warner, Meeting Planner for AIPLA, attended the breakfast and welcomed the contestants. Certificates recognizing their achievements in the regional competitions held in March in Boston, Chicago, Houston, and Silicon Valley were presented to the competitors.

Jessica Kwak and David Twitchell of University of Minnesota Law School took runner-up honors and received the Irving Marcus Award, sponsored by Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, PC. (pictured from left to right) Judge Bryson, Jessica Kwak, Judge Newman, David Twitchell, Judge Prost

Teams from Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, Boalt Hall School of Law, Brigham Young University, Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago–Kent School of Law, Loyola Law School, University of Minnesota Law School, University of Texas School of Law, and Washington University School of Law advanced from the regional competitions to this year’s national competition. Teams from Benjamin Cardozo, Loyola, University of Minnesota, and University of Texas advanced from the quarter-finals rounds to the semi-finals. Both University of Texas and University of Minnesota won their respective semi-final rounds and advanced to the final round.

The final round of the competition was held on April 16 in Courtroom 203 of the Howard T. Markey National Courts Building. Circuit Judges Pauline Newman, William Curtis Bryson, and Sharon Prost of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit judged the final round of the competition. After the judges announced their decision and the teams received their awards, the competition concluded with a reception at the Dolley Madison House, sponsored by the AIPLA.

The judges for the quarter-final and the semi-final rounds of the national competition included a wide range of experienced attorneys from the private sector as well as the federal government. The quarter-final judges were Administrative Patent Judges Joan Ellis and Andrew H. Metz x`of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences of the United States Patent and Trademark Office; Associate Solicitors Ray Chen and Cynthia Lynch of the Solicitor’s Office of the United States Patent and Trademark Office; Lore Unt of the Federal Trade Commission; Edward Naidich of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, L.L.P.; Ahmed Davis of Fish & Richardson PC; Courtenay Brinkerhoff and Jacqueline D. Wright of Foley & Lardner, LLP; Daniel Shulman of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP; and David Berl and Aaron Maurer of Williams & Connolly.

The semi-final judges were General Counsel for Intellectual Property and Solicitor John Whealan of the United States Patent and Trademark Office; Associate Solicitor Linda Isacson; Bradley C. Wright of Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.; Kara Stoll of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, L.L.P.; and Tina Chappell and Rama Elluru of Fish & Richardson, PC.

Kristen Osenga served as the chief bailiff for the final round of the national competition. Michelle Armond, Kathleen Fonda, Micah Howe, Matthias Kamber, and Michael Valek served as bailiffs for the quarter-final and semi-final rounds of the national competition.

The regional directors were Norma N. Bennett of Jenkens & Gilchrist; Thomas Johnston and Matthew Loftus of Fish & Richardson PC; Kevin Noonan of McDonnell, Boehnen, Hulbert & Berghoff; and Kimberly Van Voorhis of Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy, LLP. Steven Helmer, of Fleshner & Kim LLP, and Ms. Van Voorhis drafted this year’s problem, and Allison M. Tulino, of Sughrue Mion, PLLC, assisted with the preparation of the judges’ bench memorandum.

The AIPLA congratulates all of the participants in this year’s competition and thanks all of the judges, bailiffs, and AIPLA staff for their time and effort to make this competition a success.

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