About the competition
The AIPPI Essay Prize is intended to encourage the art of essay writing on Intellectual Property and related topics. It was first launched in 2020.
The competition is open to AIPPI members and students of IP and involves writing a 2,500 – 3,000 word essay or filming a video on a certain IP-related topic. The video option is a new inclusion for the 2021 competition. Written or recorded entries will have an equal chance to win.
Prizes
Two prizes will be awarded. One for AIPPI members and one for IP students. The winners will be given an opportunity to prerecord a video in which they speak about their essay at the AIPPI World Congress Online in October 2021 (or to have their video shown as part of the programme if they are a video winner).
In the case of an IP student, they will receive a free Join & Register place for the 2021 Congress. The existing AIPPI member will win a free online Congress registration (or a refund if they have already registered prior to winning). Both winners will also receive a certificate to mark their achievement.
The winners will be officially announced at the 2021 AIPPI World Congress Online and their essay or video will be published on the AIPPI website, along with social media coverage.
The judging process
The judges are all members of AIPPI Committees who are selected by the respective AIPPI Committee Chairperson. The essays are anonymized by the AIPPI General Secretariat before being sent to the judging panel. The judges follow a pre-arranged marking scheme. A shortlist of the highest scoring essays is selected from the initial round of judging. The judges then review the shortlisted entries and confer as a group to select the winning entries. The judging of videos follows a similar process, with the obvious exception that blinding is not possible for video entries. Although judges can see the person, they will not know who they are or where they are from.
2021 competition topics
This year we have two topics on offer, one broad and one narrow. You can choose whichever one appeals to you most.
The broad subject of the 2021 AIPPI Essay Prize is: ‘Any relevant topic that you think would be interesting for consideration by AIPPI as a study topic in the near future’.
The narrow subject of the 2021 AIPPI Essay Prize is: ‘Sustainability and its effects on Intellectual Property after COVID-19’.
Read more about the competition at https://aippi.org/news/aippi-essay-prize/