LL.M. Intellectual Property and Competition Law

Organisation:: Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC)
Ort, Bundesland, Land:: Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Typ:: Full-time
Certificate:: LL.M.
Duration:: 2 Semester/s

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Programme

The MIPLC offers a one-year, intensive LL.M. degree program. The courses cover all areas of European and international intellectual property, competition, and media law, as well as topics from related fields such as economics and business administration.

Our teaching methods heavily emphasize problem-oriented learning and case-studies. Training in litigation and negotiation skills forms an integral part of our classes. Students have numerous opportunities to practice their newly acquired skills in simulated court cases, workshops, internships and exams.

The program's international focus ensures that students gain a truly global perspective on IP. Many classes are taught jointly by faculty members from Europe and the U.S., which means that most fields of law are treated from both the Civil Law and the Common Law point of view. As a consequence, our graduates are familiar with and can successfully operate in both legal systems.

Furthermore, with a small student body composed of students from all over the world, who not only meet in class but share a student office hall, intercultural communication is a central element of every-day life at MIPLC.

In recognition of the successful completion of the one-year program the University of Augsburg awards the degree of Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Intellectual Property and Competition Law.

Seth Ericsson
Program Director

Target audience

The MIPLC program is open to:
postgraduates from all disciplines, including but not limited to:

law,
economics,
engineering and
natural sciences

who want to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to deal with Intellectual Property in a global context at the most sophisticated level.

The program is also imminently suited for aspiring patent attorney candidates.

Emphases/Curriculum

Introductory Courses:

Introduction to Economics
Introduction to IP
International IP Convention System
Legal Research and Writing
Legal Tradition (Civil Law & Common Law)

Basic Courses:

European and International (WTO) Law
European and U.S. Competition Law
European Copyright Law
European Patent Law
European, U.S. and International Design Law
European, U.S. and International Trademark Law
International and Comparative Copyright Law
International and Comparative Patent Law
Jurisdiction and Conflict of Laws
Licensing of IP Rights
Protection of Geographical Indications
Unfair Competition I

Specialized Courses:

Arbitration
Computer Crime
Computers and the Law
Cross-Border Trade in IP
Enforcement of Copyright
Entertainment Law
Entrepreneurship
The Federal Circuit
Innovation Policy
Intangible Assets Valuation
Internet Law I+II
Intellectual Property and Competition Law
IP and Indigenous Heritage
IP Prosecution and Enforcement
Licence Contract Drafting
Managerial Finance
Project Management
Protection of Databases and other
Neighboring Rights Protecting Investments
Pharmaceuticals and IP
Practical Training:
- in Media Law
- in Patent Law
- in Trademark Law
Privacy, Publicity and Personality
Protection of Biotechnological Inventions
Science, Patent, and Start-ups
Technical Protection of Authors' Rights
Taxation of IP
Theoretical Foundations of IP
TRIPS, Patents and Public Health
Unfair Competition II

Master's Thesis
The preparation of the Master's Thesis is one of the most important parts of the curriculum. It allows student to explore a selected topic in great depth, and to practice their skills of research, analysis and writing at a very high level.

The thesis will provide potential employers with important evidence of a student’s research and writing skills, as well as of their mastery of a particular area of law.

Practical relevance

Intellectual Property is becoming an increasingly important business aspect for any sector of the economy as the knowledge-based society further expands. MIPLC students acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to deal with the various aspects of IP in every-day life.

As a graduation requirement, students will complete a four-week internship with an IP law firm, a corporate IP department, or an IP organization. Students thus get an excellent opportunity to practice their newly acquired knowledge and skills in "real life IP," and in some cases even to meet their future employers.

Admission/Entrance requirements

Total fees approx.:	€ 26.000

Admission Requirements: A Bachelor's Degree (or equivalent) in law, economics, business administration, natural sciences, engineering, IT, literature, or media sciences. At least one year of relevant professional experience. "Relevant" means that the practical experience should either be related to Intellectual Property itself, or to the subject of the qualifying degree – for example, experience as an engineer if the qualifying degree is in engineering, experience in law if the qualifying degree is in law, etc. Apart from actual employment in a paid position, "professional experience" also includes internships, work as a research assistant, and the German "Referendariat". Sufficient knowledge of the English language, demonstrated by one of the following test results within the last three years: a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score in the 100 point-range (internet-based), in the 250 point-range (computer-based), or in the 600 point-range (paper-based); an IELTS (International English Language Testing System) score of 7.0 or above (academic version); a minimum grade of "C" on the Cambridge CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English) (scores from other Cambridge tests, such as the Key English Test and the Certificate of Advanced English, will not be accepted). These tests are waived for applicants who are either native speakers of English or have received their degree from an institution at which English is the language of instruction. Applicants are responsible for making their own arrangements to take one of the tests. Application deadline: April 30.

Languages
Language(s) of instruction:	English
Going abroad:	not possible

Working conditions

At the MIPLC, optimal working conditions are considered very important. To this end, students are provided with individual workplaces including high-speed internet access and desktop access to a number of legal databases. Students also have at their disposal the world's most complete Intellectual Property library at the Max Planck Institute, as well as MIPLC's own library.

To further support their studies, the program offers to its students individual one-to-one tutorial sessions. The tutors, most of whom are MIPLC graduates themselves, are highly qualified researchers of the Max Planck Institute or young attorneys. The tutorials are one of the unique and innovative features of the LL.M. Program, and a core element of the effort to provide education of unsurpassed quality.

Information material

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Organisation

The MIPLC is a union of four partners from two continents:

Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law
University of Augsburg
Technische Universität München
The George Washington University Law School, Washington, D.C.

These institutions have joined their skills and resources in order to offer the best possible education and the most outstanding research in the area of Intellectual Property - the law of innovation, creativity and competition.

Instruction takes place in Munich on the premises of the Max Planck Institute and with full access to the Institute's resources.

Study in Munich

With a population of over 1.2 million, Munich is the third-largest city in Germany and an important cultural and economic center. It has been ranked by Germans as the most livable city in Germany, and with more than 80,000 university students, it has plenty of attractions for students.

Munich is known as Europe's "Intellectual Property Capital" because it is the location of the European Patent Office, the German Patent and Trademark Office, and the German Federal Patent Court. It is also home to a large number of Intellectual Property law firms and companies in industries heavily dependent upon Intellectual Property, including Siemens, BMW, and many media and biotech companies.