Honorable William Conner Writing Competition

The Honorable William Conner Writing Competition was established to recognize exceptionally written papers that are submitted by law students and is presented each year at the Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner.

For the Conner Writing Competition submission requirements, please click HERE. The Winner will receive a cash award of $3,000.00 and the Runner-up will receive a cash award of $2,000.00. The deadline is March 6, 2026.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS AND RULES FOR THE HONORABLE WILLIAM C. CONNER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW WRITING COMPETITION

1. All entrants must be law school students currently enrolled in a J.D. or LL.M. program (day or evening) in an accredited law school in the United States with an expected graduation date after March 6, 2026.

2. An entry must be directed to any of the following subject areas of intellectual property, i.e., patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and unfair trade practices, as well as antitrust and data security/privacy issues to the extent they relate to intellectual property. Any entries that focus on topics other than intellectual property will not be considered.

All entries must be submitted by March 6, 2026, by e-mail, to: NYIPLA Executive Office Tel: (201) 461-6603 admin@nyipla.org

4. Entries must be in PDF format, formatted as double-spaced text (except for headings, text in footnotes, or block quotes, which may be single-spaced) on 8 1/2 x 11-inch paper (paper orientation: portrait) with at least one-inch margins on all sides, in 12-point or larger font, with all citations in footnotes. Footnotes must be in 10-point or larger font. Please include a cover page with the title of the paper and the entrant’s name and school. Please do not include the entrant’s name or school on any other page of the submission. The title of the paper should appear in the header of every page (excluding the cover page). There is a twenty (20) page maximum limit for all entries, including footnotes, but excluding the cover page or table of contents. Entries that exceed this limit, or otherwise do not conform with these specifications, will not be considered.

5. Entries must reflect the author’s own insights and reasoning. Entries cannot include content generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) or created by any third party.

6. Entries will be judged on interest and suitability of topic for publication by NYIPLA, organization, legal analysis, writing, and professionalism of the work product. A summary of the grading rubric is provided immediately below. Questions regarding the rubric or evaluation criteria should be directed to admin@nyipla.org. The top papers will be submitted to the Board of the NYIPLA for evaluation and determination of a winner and runner-up.