Introduction
“I used to think one of the most powerful individuals in America was the person who could select the annual high school debate topic. Think of the power – to set the agenda and determine what millions of high school students will study, read about, think about, talk about with friends, discuss with their teachers, and debate with their parents and siblings over dinner.”
– Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld
With the ‘23-’24 season in the books, debaters and coaches move to the next season’s topic. The 2024-2025 high school policy debate topic concerns intellectual property rights (IPR), and how the United States federal government (USFG) could strengthen three areas: copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks. The official resolution reads: “The United States federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks.”
What are Intellectual Properties?
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an important international body in IPR, defines Intellectual Property as:
“Creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce… which enable people to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create.” (WIPO)
For this year’s policy debate topic, the focus will be on copyrights, patents, or trademarks as examples of IPR.
Compared to other topics, IPR might not seem very controversial. But ongoing debates over IPR and AI or big tech companies stealing small inventor’s ideas highlight a lot of impact to the topic.
Intellectual Property is an important part of not just the legal system, but also potentially Congress and the executive branches. And, as Dr. McFarland noted,
“Learning about the legal process is always good for debaters – [it] helps them learn more than they would otherwise about how the government and courts work.”
By learning more about the current laws and structures of the USFG, debate helps create the next generation of “policymakers,” even if they don’t go into the law.
As mentioned, one of the key debates on this year’s topic will be the emerging issue of Generative AI. Currently, the federal government has ruled that any work created by AI that does not have “significant input” cannot be copyrighted or patented due to it not being a person. The government agency in charge of patents, for example, has denied patents on AI generated materials (Reuters). However, there is still an issue of whether training AI, a process that uses the material scraped on the internet that can be copyrighted. This means that AI training steals the hard work of many people without providing any compensation.
“Given that we are living in the age of the internet and AI, the intellectual property system has faced questions over how it can keep up with technological innovations. I think it will be interesting to see how the proposals we debate over could solve those issues.”
– Nathan Pascas ‘26
“I think this area in particular is very timely due to the increasing usage or misusage of AI sites like Chat GPT. Right now I think that there is a lot of ambiguity in the realm of AI. Can AI copyright things? Can people copyright what AI produces? Because of this, I think this topic will be great as I can to explore such questions and come up with answers.”
– Langdon Carver ‘26
Patents implicate all sorts of issues, especially the economy. Patents are necessary for continued technological innovation, which can help spur growth and development. Exploring this part of the topic seems really interesting to the debaters on the team.
“I’m looking forward to learning more about how patent protections interface with the U.S. economy and international trade.”
– Carter Weiss ‘25
Another area of the topic that is a part of our everyday lives we don’t always think about is trademarks. Whether or not you are a big or small company, people willingly choose to steal the idea of names and logos.
“In our consumerist society, trademarked brands and slogans are critical to the growth of corporations that sell all types of goods and services. In those regards, I think that discussion over the trademark area will give insight into how businesses in the market economy operate.”
– Nathan Pascas ‘26
Sometimes, trademarks can actually become used as the substitute for the idea or invention, invalidating the trademark. Did you know that the name of escalators isn’t escalators? It was actually a trademarked name! However, by the 1950s, the name was used so much that it was deemed an invalid trademark.
Debate Team Thoughts
As a collective, debaters and coaches research using lots of different research tools looking for new and better arguments. All members of the debate team are eager to find and learn more about this year’s topic.
“This time of year – when we are starting a new topic – is one of my favorite times of our season and “off-season” [which we don’t really have because we are already preparing for next season’s playbook]. I’ve done debate as long as I have as a debater and a coach because literally every day I learn something new about people or about arguments. IPR is no exception – I’ve already learned a lot about this history of copyright and patents as well as current issues – I love the research part of debate!”
– Dr. McFarland, Debate Coach
“I learned more about IPR in the two weeks than in my life. I love that about a new topic. I think this one in particular is crazy timely with AI and all of the post-COVID vaccines and biotech and energy technology: all the things we need patents for. The ongoing events such as Taylor Swift and songs are really going to make it pretty interesting. It seems like a topic where it’s really important to learn about since it’s about protecting creative ideas, you never know when you’ll get one of those.”
– Coach Lingel, Debate Coach
“I’m excited for all the new research on IPR I get to do and to learn about a field that affects everything we interact with.”
– Henry Banse ‘26
“This topic is focused on intellectual property rights, which is something that I don’t know anything about, but I am excited to learn more about it. This year, all of us are working together in finding out new things about this topic; even if we don’t know anything. Each of us is contributing to the collective and sharing what we’ve learned.”
– Levy Mendoza ‘25
“I’m excited to learn about the wide spread consequences that IPR might have across difference sectors and how it might play a role in societal structures and problems.”
– Akshaj Nandigam ‘27
“Beginning a new debate topic is always exciting and this will be my third and final time experiencing it with the team at Jesuit. And what a way to go out. IP law has been an interest of mine for a long time and having a topic about it is both thrilling and an excellent opportunity to learn about the pros and cons, ongoing debates in the literature, and the legal implications of various proposals including trademark, copyright, and patents – the three areas specified in the resolution.”
– Luke Lastelick ‘25
With new, emerging tensions, even The Department of State thinks:
“Educators and youth can help reduce the growing prevalence of copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting, in both the online and hard-good environments, by learning about intellectual property rights and spreading the word that respecting intellectual property rights is in everyone’s interest. There are lots of great materials to get you started.”
Conclusion
The future of the debate team continues to stay bright as last year’s novices transition into varsity and contribute to the team’s vast supply of evidence and arguments. Varsity members continue to make more and more quality arguments to kickstart the debate team’s strategies and play book. Coaches continue to disseminate information to all members of the debate team, while also supporting the team’s arguments, evidence, and building of speeches.
Stay tuned to The Roundup for future debate news!
