Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2021, the Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition is a prestigious, nationally-recognized annual event, with law school teams throughout the country participating. It is hosted by the International Trademark Association (INTA) with the aim of helping law students sharpen their trial and advocacy skills in the field of trademark and unfair competition law.
OW&E has been a strong supporter of the Lefkowitz competition from its inception. Starting with Mel Owen, most of its attorneys have served as regional oral argument judges, including OW&E alumni such as Alica Del Valle (Airbnb), Eric Gelwicks (Live Nation), and Lindsey Furtado (Square). OW&E’s John C. Baum is past national chair of INTA’s Lefkowitz Committee and was part of the winning national championship team in 1991.
John was interviewed for a recent article, INTA Reflects on 30 Years of Hosting the Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition, published in the INTA Bulletin on March 3, 2021, In the article John reflects on what the Lefkowitz competition has meant for his career:
“The first arguments were in February 1991, and I was representing the University of California, Davis. It came about because a student I didn’t know at the time, Marc Gorelnik (American Sportfishing Association, USA), organized it for the school and we became teammates. I had virtually no experience with trademark law and there were no trademark law classes at our law school at the time, so we used the problem to learn about trademark law. It was an experience much like a lawyer getting a problem in an unknown area of law and having to figure it out.
We won the region and went on to the Nationals, and we won the Nationals. The Competition was the single most important factor in me becoming and remaining a trademark lawyer over the last 30 or so years. It wasn’t so important only due to the academics; it was the personal connections that I made with lawyers and other students. In fact, my partner, Marc, became my best friend and was the best man at my wedding.”
John has some advice for law students and others thinking about a career in trademark law: “Do it if you love it. If you do it and you love it, do it the best you can and work with the best people you can find so you can learn as much as you can. But most importantly, share what you learn with others.”
The accompanying photo was taken at the regional Lefkowitz competition held at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in 2019 – John Baum (center) is pictured with fellow judges Marc M. Gorelnik (left) and Mark A. Steiner (right).