Goethe University Team Wins 1st Place in the Written Round of the Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot Court 2025.
This year’s International Intellectual Property Moot Court was held in Oxford from March 19 to 22, 2025. Organized by the University of Oxford for more than 20 years now, the global competition is open to student teams from law faculties worldwide. Goethe University Frankfurt has fielded a team each year since 2012, supervised and coordinated by the Chair of Professor Peukert. This year’s participants were Parand Yaghubi, Jacob Lemmer, and Leonard Gross, coached by Berkant Yilmaz and David Gurlitt.
The competition consists of two parts: a written and an oral round. Performance in the written round determines whether a team qualifies for the oral phase. To compete, teams must draft two written submissions in English – one for the claimant and one for the respondent – based on a fictional case in the field of intellectual property law. Not only the case, but also the legal jurisdiction (“Erewhon”) and its laws are entirely fictitious. All that’s known is that the system is based on common law, meaning precedent-based reasoning similar to that in Anglo-American legal systems. Some may wonder how one judges a legal case in such a system: the key lies in the argumentation using fundamental legal principles, derived from comparative legal analysis of jurisdictions around the world, particularly their case law and legislation. Any international legal source can be used – as long as it’s shown to be factually and conceptually relevant to the case. Students typically have just under two months to prepare the submissions after the case file is released.
Only the top 32 of approximately 100 teams are invited to the oral rounds held at the University of Oxford. These oral proceedings are the highlight and final phase of the competition. In Oxford, teams present their arguments and demonstrate their legal expertise by acting as counsel for both claimants and respondents. They defend their fictional clients through oral pleadings. This year’s case revolved around a trademark dispute, in which the plaintiff alleged that three defendants infringed on registered trademarks. Legal issues in dispute included trademark dilution, reputation damage, and likelihood of confusion. The teams had to face intense questions from a simulated panel of judges made up of lawyers, professors, and career judges. The team from Frankfurt rose to the challenge, winning three out of four oral rounds, competing against teams from Switzerland, England, Canada, and India. Parand Yaghubi, as Senior Counsel, opened the arguments for both claimant and respondent sides. Leonard Gross (claimant) and Jacob Lemmer (respondent) followed as Junior Counsel, presenting the second half of each case.
Beyond the intense courtroom experience, participants enjoyed evening events – from formal dinners in Oxford’s historic dining halls to lectures by renowned professors. The final event was the Grand Final Dinner and Awards Ceremony. This year, the awards held special meaning for the Frankfurt team: For the first time ever, Goethe University Frankfurt won the prize for Best Written Submissions – becoming the first German university to achieve this distinction internationally in the written round. Despite the challenges of a foreign language and an unfamiliar legal system, the team excelled. The score was based on categories including legal analysis, clarity and persuasiveness of argument, research and use of authorities, as well as stylistic expression.
This award crowns a participation that was already extraordinary. Competing in the Moot Court doesn’t just introduce students to foreign legal systems, new areas of law, and international universities – it also fosters professional and personal networks. It strengthens skills often neglected in traditional studies, like legal English, oral advocacy, social skills, and teamwork. The Moot Court experience also promotes personal and academic development, offering international experience and hands-on training that complements the theory-heavy curriculum. To not only witness a legal hearing as a student, but to actively shape it as a party to the case, is a creative and empowering way to explore the legal profession – and to expand one’s legal perspective beyond the classroom.
Parand Yaghubi and David Gurlitt
