Cooley, UM?Law students excel in competition

Law students from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and the University of Michigan Law School recently were named winners in the 2013 Michigan Innovation and Intellectual Property Legal Writing Competition.

The competition was sponsored by the Intellectual Property Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan and the Cooley Law School Graduate Program in Intellectual Property Law.

Kyle Quigley, a graduating senior at Cooley Law School, was awarded first prize for his paper, “The Experimental Use Exception To Patent Infringement Should Be Expanded: The Proposal Of A Modified Exception Comprising A Bright-Line Rule Permitting Experimental Use Upon Delivery Of Express Notice Of Intent.” Tasha Francis, a 2013 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, won second prize for her paper, “Continued Employment as Sufficient Consideration for Pre-Invention Assignment Agreements.”

Jordan Zuppke, also a graduating senior at Cooley Law School, received third place for his paper, “Sole Purpose.”  Quigley and Zuppke both are students in Cooley's Joint J.D./LL.M. Program in IP Law.

“We received a record number of entries in this year’s writing competition, demonstrating the expanding interest in intellectual property law at law schools across the state,” said Prof. David C. Berry, director of Cooley’s Graduate IP?Program and a council member of the State Bar IP?section.

“These three students submitted outstanding scholarship addressing important issues in the field,” he said. “We congratulate them on their achievement."

The competition, which rewards excellence in original legal scholarship in the fields of intellectual property and innovation law, was open to students at any law school in Michigan.

Winners received a cash prize, complementary attendance at an upcoming IP Section event, and publication in the IP Section's publication, IPLS Proceedings.