Writing Award Program 2008-2009
The Pittsburgh Intellectual Property Law Association (PIPLA) is pleased to announce that it is currently seeking submissions for the PIPLA 2008-2009 Writing Award. A cash prize in the amount of $1,000 will be awarded to the best article submitted in accordance with the following guidelines. To be considered for the award, articles must be submitted (as described below) no later than March 20, 2009.
To be eligible for the award, the author(s) of a submitted article must be currently attending an accredited law school AND EITHER:
(a) The accredited law school must be within the federal judicial district of the District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania; OR
(b) The author(s) has/have/had a permanent residence within the federal judicial district of the District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania within the last ten years.
2. Specifications
(a) Subject: The submitted article must be on a topic related to intellectual property.
(b) Length: At least ten pages, double-spaced, 8-1/2” by 11” paper, with a font size of 10-12 pts. and 1” margins. There is no maximum length, but a length of 25 pages or less is recommended.
(c) Media: Articles should be submitted electronically in any conventional
electronic format, unless permission for submission of the article in hard copy format is obtained from the contact person identified in paragraph 6 (see below).
(b) The winning article will be selected by the PIPLA Writing Award Committee or their appointees and approved by the PIPLA Board of Managers. PIPLA reserves the right to decline selecting an article for the award, in the event that no submitted article meets the judging criteria to the satisfaction of the PIPLA Board of Managers.
4. Award
A cash prize of $1,000 will be awarded to the author(s) of the winning article. The $1,000 award will be divided/distributed equally among the authors, if the winning article has multiple authors.
5. Submission Content
(a) An electronic copy of the article as described in the Specifications (see above - paragraph 2); AND
(b) An electronic transmittal sheet containing the following information:
(1) Title of the article;
(2) Name of each author;
(3) Home address of each author;
(4) A telephone number or e-mail address for each author at which the author can be contacted through April 2009;
(5) Name of the law school attended by each author;
(6) The name and phone number/e-mail address of a faculty member of the law school attended by each author who is to be used as a reference for the author;
(7) A statement which sets forth why each author believes he/she is eligible for the award according to the criteria given above in paragraph 1;
(8) Any additional pertinent information which an author wishes to include; AND
(9) For each author, an authenticating mark (e.g., the author’s typed name), that is designated as being the author’s signature.
(Click here for downloadable fillable pdf transmittal.)
Amy Elizabeth McCall Esq.
Chairperson, PIPLA Writing Award Committee
Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky
Four Gateway Center, Suite 2200
444 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-882-7170
7. Award Presentation
The author(s) of the winning submission will be notified by the first week of April 2009 regarding the outcome of the judging of submissions. The author(s) of the winning submission will be invited to attend the April 2009 PIPLA meeting in Pittsburgh to receive the award. If the author(s) are unable to attend, other arrangements will be made to award the prize.
8. Publication Rights
By submitting an article to be considered for the PIPLA Writing Award, each author:
(a) Grants permission to PIPLA to publish the article on the Internet and/or to reproduce and distribute hard copies of the article to its membership;
(b) Warrants to PIPLA that the author has obtainted permission from any other party to whom publication rights or distribution rights may have been granted to PIPLA to make publications/reproductions in accordance with section 8(a); and
(c) Agrees to idemnify PIPLA against any and all costs and liabilities that may arise from a charge of infringement against PIPLA for publications/reproductions made in accordance with section 8(a).
9. Acknowledgement of Award
By submitting an article to be considered for the PIPLA Writing Award, each author agrees that, in the event that the author's article is selected as the winning article, he/she will make a request to each publisher of any post-award publication of the winning article to include a notice that the author is the recipient of the PIPLA Writing Award for 2008-2009.