The Jan Jancin Award is a merit-based award that honors Jan Jancin, who served with extraordinary distinction in numerous IP bar leadership roles throughout his career, including both as president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and as the chair of the Section on Intellectual Property Law of the American Bar Association. The Jan Jancin Award is made possible through the generosity of AIPLA and the ABA IPL Section. The AIPLA Past Presidents Award is a merit-based award that is made possible through the contributions to the Foundation each year by past presidents of the AIPLA.
Selection Criteria
Both of these awards recognize diversity-minded second and third-year law students, who although still students, have nonetheless contributed to the IP law profession through (1) work experience relevant to the practice of intellectual property law, (2) achievement in intellectual property law coursework, (3) active membership or leadership roles in intellectual property law student organizations, (4) published writings on intellectual property law topics, or (5) other efforts that advance the study or practice of intellectual property law. Any ABA-accredited law school offering at least one course on an intellectual property law subject may nominate a single individual who will then be considered for each of these awards.
Award
The winner of the Jan Jancin Award receives a $5,000 cash honorarium, as well as reasonable travel expenses to attend the presentation of the award in person, which is made each year during either the AIPLA Annual Meeting or a meeting of the ABA IPL Section. The winner of the AIPLA Past Presidents Award receives a cash honorarium of $2,500, and is invited to attend the presentation of the award in person at the AIPLA Annual Meeting.
Nomination Process
The dean (or another appropriate faculty member) of a law school has the opportunity to select and recommend a single 2L or 3L student as the law school’s nominee for both the Jan Jancin Award and the AIPLA Past Presidents Award. The recommending faculty member must provide a description, based on personal knowledge of the nominee, of the nominee’s relevant achievements, using criteria such as (1) best grades in IP courses overall, (2) outstanding achievement in specified IP courses, (3) best IP paper written by a student, (4) faculty consensus, and (5) leadership in student IP organizations.
Nominations for these awards may be at any time after January 1 each year, but must be completed before the May 26 deadline to be considered for the awards announced by the Foundation in June or July each year. Specifically, both of the following items must be received by the Foundation on or before this May 26 deadline for a nomination to be complete:
1. A faculty member recommendation identifying the nominee and explaining why the nominee is believed to be deserving of the award. This recommendation should be no more than 500 words in length and submitted via email from the faculty member’s law school email account to JanJancinAward@DiversityInIPLaw.org.]
2. The completed nominee online application form, including a 500-word-or-less essay by the nominee discussing the nominee’s personal achievements in the field of IP law.
Selection and Announcement
The Foundation’s Jan Jancin Award Committee selects the winners of both the Jan Jancin Award and the AIPLA Past Presidents Award in June or July each year from among the completed nominations received between January 1 and May 26 of that year. Questions concerning this award can be directed to JanJancinAward@DiversityInIPLaw.org.
We look forward to receipt via email of your law school faculty recommendation and your completed online nominee application form in advance of the May 26 deadline.