Student Competition

IDEA Student IP Writing Competition

IDEA®: The Law Review of the Franklin Pierce Center For Intellectual Property is proud to announce our Annual IDEA Student Intellectual Property Writing Competition. We are looking for original, publishable papers addressing compelling issues in intellectual property law. 

Competition Details 

To be eligible for consideration, the paper must focus on intellectual property law and have been written solely by a student. Submissions should be double-spaced (except for footnotes, which should be single-spaced). The font size should be 12 point at a minimum. All margins should be one inch at a minimum. Students should follow the format presented in The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (21st ed.). Electronic submissions are strongly preferred, though paper submissions also will be accepted. The deadline for submitting notes is Friday, May 28, 2021. 

The awards include: 

1st prize - $500 and publication in IDEA®; 2nd prize - $200; and 3rd prize - A one-year subscription to IDEA®.

Entry Form

Entry form for 2021

Contact Information:

IDEA Student Intellectual Property Writing Competition IDEA®: The Law Review of the Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property University of New Hampshire School of Law 2 White Street Concord, NH 03301

The IDEA® Editorial Board is pleased to announce the winner of the 2020 Student Writing Competition:

First Place "Fair Use, the Internet Age, and Rulifying the Blogosphere" Michael P. Goodyear

Second Place "That Tattoo on Her Shoulder: The Intersection of Copyright Law & Tattoos" Kathleen Wills

Third Place "Let's All Get on the Same Page: Equating Patent-Agent Privilege to Attorney-Client Privilege" Alexandra Kim 

Previous Finalists:

2019 IDEA Student Writing Competition Winner

"Protecting Virtual Things" Anastasia Greenberg

2018 IDEA Student Writing Competition Winners

First Place "Does Dilution 'Dilute' the First Amendment? Trademark Dilution and the Right to Free Speech after Tam and Brunetti" Sara Gold

Second Place "Patent Pool and Deprivatization of Patents" Weimin Wu

Third Place "Blurred Staff: Issues with Music Plagiarism Litigation in the Absence of Musically Literate Courts" Bethany Lambert

2017 IDEA Student Writing Competition Winners

First Place "A Mind of its Own- Direct Infringement by Users of Systems of Artificial Intelligence" Bridget Madden

Second Place “Appropriation at Augusta: An Illustration of the Battle Over the Publicity Right and the First Amendment" Ryan Hersh

Third Place “The Future of the Compulsory License: Tick Tock and It's Time to Eliminate It " Debbie Chu

2016 IDEA Student Writing Competition Winners

First Place “Patently Unfair - Confirmation Bias and the Due Process of Inter Partes Review" Nicholas J. Doyle

Second Place “Lost in Space: The Copyright Dilemma" Sedef Ayalp

Third Place “A Photographer’s Copyright Protection for Orphaned Works" Venus Ho

2015 IDEA Student Writing Competition Winners

First Place “Having Your Cake and Eating It Too: Intellectual Property Protection for Cake Design” Hannah Brown, University of San Diego School of Law, 2015

Second Place “The Trademark as a Novel Innovation Index” Brian Focarino, William & Mary Law School, 2015

Third Place “Enlightened Learning from a Venerable Master: The Right of Publicity Adopts Trademark Law’s Teachings in Fashioning a Principles First Amendment Defense” Wee Jin Yeo, Boston University School of Law, 2015

2014 IDEA Student Writing Competition Winners

First Place: Hyper-Linking Content as Copyright Infringement: Not Worth All the Hype Katherine Beyer, University of Kentucky College of Law, 2015

Second Place: Patenting Proteins After Myriad Priti Phukan, University of San Diego School of Law, 2015

Third Place: Is Porn too Provocative for Copyright?: Analyzing the Constitutionality of Obscene and Pornographic Copyrights Ashley Winkler, University of Kentucky College of Law, 2015

2013 IDEA Student Writing Competition Winners

First Place: Pandora & Spotify: Legal Issues And Licensing Requirements For Interactive And Non-Interactive Internet Radio Broadcasters Sofia Ritala, The University of Texas School of Law and University of Edinburgh

Second Place: What Do You Care What the Color of my Sole Is?: Analyzing if Copyright Law is a Better Solution for the Those Seeking Protection for Color in the Fashion Industry Sara Falk, American University, Washington College of Law

Third Place: China’s Indigenous Innovation Policy: Promoting Innovation at Foreign Firms’ Expense Cindy Bi, The Ohio State University-Moritz College of Law

2012 IDEA Student Writing Competition Winners

First Place: Game Over, Insert Coin to Continue: Entering a New Era of Video Game Intellectual Property Enforcement Andrew Eichner, The University of Texas School of Law

Second Place: Taking Note: Reflections on Copyrighting Students’ Lecture Notes Matthew Pagett, Wake Forest University School of Law

Third Place: Duty to Deal: The Antitrust Antidote to the Gene Patent Dilemma Jolene Fernandes, University of California, Irvine School of Law

2011 IDEA Student Writing Competition Winners

The IDEA® Editorial Board is pleased to announce the winners of the 2011 Student Writing Competition:

First Place: A "License to Read": The Effect of E-Books on Publishers, Libraries, and the First Sale Doctrine Rachel Berube, Emory University School of Law

Second Place: The Culture of Puffery Anyu Fang, Stanford Law School

Third Place: Economics of Process Methods: Intellectual Property Movements and Guideposts for Information Age Patents Blair Russell, Chapman University School of Law

2010 IDEA Student Writing Competition Winners

The IDEA® Editorial Board is pleased to announce the winners of the 2010 Student Writing Competition:

First Place: Irrational Behavior, Hindsight, and Patentability: Balancing the "Obvious to Try" Test with Unexpected Results Scott Conley, Salmon P. Chase School of Law

Second Place: A Brave New Step: Why the Music Industry Should Follow the Hulu Model Jessica Wang, UCLA School of Law

Third Place: Although Wi-Fi Is Hot, Security Measures Are Not: Does Maintaining an Unsecured Wi-Fi Network Diminish Your Fourth Amendment Rights? Dayna Tann, St. John's University School of Law

The following are the finalists for the 2008-2009 IDEA Student Intellectual Property Writing Competition:

First Place: Has the CUTSA Furthered or Frustrated Underlying Theories of Trade Secret Law? Kenneth Shurtz, UC Hastings College of the Law

Second Place: Antitrust, Intellectual Property, and the iTunes Ecosystem Willow Noonan, The George Washington University Law School

Third Place: The Copyright Tree: Using German Moral Rights as the Roots for Enhanced Authorship Protection in the United States Aaron White, DePaul University College of Law

The following are the finalists for the 2007-2008 IDEA Student Intellectual Property Writing Competition:

First Place: Register Trademarks and Keep the Faith: Trademarks, Religion, and Identity David Simon, Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2008

Second Place: Human Rights and the Moral Right of Textual Integrity: A Convergence Frank Muller,DePaul University College of Law, 2008

Third Place: Anything But Obvious: Interpreting the 'Obvious to Try' Maxim in the Chemical Arts Steve Johnston, William and Mary School of Law, 2009