LL.M. in INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW

Directors M. Adelman, R. Brauneis Faculty Advisors M. Abramowicz, S. Basheer, L. Bradford, J. Duffy, D. Nunziato, R. Schechter

More about IP and Technology Law at GW

Patent 2,708,656 - Enrico Fermi et al., Nuclear Reactor Attorney: Robert A. Lavender, GW Law Class of 1927

The George Washington University Law School has been a leader in intellectual property education and scholarship for more than one hundred years. By the time the Intellectual Property LL.M. program was first established at GW in 1895 as a "Master in Patent Law" degree, our alumni had already written the patents for Bell's telephone, Mergenthaler's linotype machine, and Eastman's roll film camera, among hundreds of other inventions, and dozens of our alumni had worked in the Patent Office. As legal issues involving technology have spread beyond the field of patent law, GW Law has remained at the forefront. In the early 1950s, long before the term "intellectual property" was in wide use, The George Washington University recognized the close relations between patents, trademarks, and copyrights by establishing at the Law School the Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Foundation, the country's first research institute in any of those areas.

In recent years, as intellectual property law issues have themselves become more tightly interwoven with issues in commercial law, computer and Internet regulation, communications law, and the regulation of medicine, GW Law has been among the first to add faculty and courses in those areas. At the same time, GW Law has not neglected its core strength in patents, and has continued to develop an unparalleled patent law faculty and curriculum. The result: an Intellectual Property LL.M. Program that is second to none, and that is ready and eager to equip students to deal with the innovations of the coming century.

The LL.M. degree program is designed for both U.S. and non-U.S. attorneys interested in intensive study of U.S., international, and comparative intellectual property law. Many U.S. attorneys complete the program to gain the specialized knowledge necessary to practice, teach, or regulate in a legal field that has been one of the hottest and most interesting for the last several decades. Many non-U.S. attorneys complete the program to get their first in-depth look at U.S. intellectual property law, while qualifying to take a bar examination that will enable them to practice in one of the United States, such as New York. While student enrollment at the Law School numbers approximately 1,860, enrollment in the Intellectual Property Law LL.M. program is limited to approximately 30 to 50 students each year.

Admissions Overview

Students must generally begin the program in the fall semester; spring admission may be allowed in special circumstances at the discretion of the program director.

Both full- and part-time programs of study are offered. Part-time students in the program often hold positions with a U.S. government agency (particularly the Patent and Trademark Office), serve as law clerks in federal courts, or are in full-time private practice.

The Intellectual Property Law Program welcomes applications from qualified graduates of non-U.S. law schools. A strong international presence in the student body is considered a vital element of the comparative focus of the program. In a typical year, we welcome students from more than a dozen countries.

Please note that the LL.M. is a graduate degree in law. To be considered for admission to this program, you must already have a J.D. or equivalent degree.

Requirements for the LL.M. Degree

24 hours of credit are required for the LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law. Thesis (690–91) and a minimum of 10 credits is required from the following courses; if the thesis is waived, an additional 4 credits in courses in the field, including 2 credits graded on the basis of a research paper, are required:

• Patent Law (471)
• Copyright Law (472)
• International Copyright Law (473)
• Trademark Law and Unfair Competition (474)
• Entertainment Law (475)
• Patent Strategies and Practice (476)
• The Federal Circuit (477)
• Licensing of Intellectual Property Rights (478)
• Intellectual Assets Management (479)
• Chemical and Biotech Patent Law (480)
• Patent Enforcement (482)
• Patent Appellate Practice (483)
• Computer Law (484)
• Law in Cyberspace (485)
• Art, Cultural Property, and the Law (488)
• International and Comparative Patent Law (490)
• Intellectual Property Antitrust Seminar (494)
• Intellectual Property Law Seminar (496)

Courses Related to Intellectual Property Law

• E-Commerce (283)
• Sports Law (295)
• Law of Privacy (398)
• Antitrust Law (402)
• Advanced Antitrust Law Seminar (403)
• Communications Law (412)
• Broadcast and Cable Regulation (413)
• Telecommunications Law (414)
• Information Privacy Law (486)
• Formation of Government Contracts (502)
• International E-Commerce Seminar (525)
• Genetics and the Law (616)
• Law and Medicine (617)

view course descriptions

Internships

For many students, internships have proven to be one of the best ways to gain mentorship from members of the local intellectual property community. The Washington, D.C., area has the country's highest concentration of internships with nonprofit and trade groups, courts, and government agencies specialized in intellectual property, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Copyright Office, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. The GW Law Intellectual Property Program maintains an intellectual property internship guide for the benefit of students, and GW students have been successful in getting internships at these organizations. Students who arrange for an approved, nonremunerative placement may receive up to four hours of credit for their work, with five hours of work per week being required for each credit.

Research and Writing

Each Intellectual Property LL.M. student must write either a thesis for credits, or a substantial research paper in connection with a seminar or independent study project for at least two credits. Many students choose to write the thesis so that they can produce a published work and establish their reputation in intellectual property law. The Law School's wide diversity of faculty resources and close proximity to government institutions permit unparalleled access to the latest and most important issues in all areas of the field, both domestic and foreign. Every encouragement is given to student authors, ranging from individual counseling on topics of current academic and practical interest to the GW-only Marcus B. Finnegan IP Writing Competition, which provides $8,000 in prize money every year. GW students have published their work not only in general law reviews in the United States (including our own Law Review and International Law Review) but also in specialized journals such as the American Intellectual Property Law Association Quarterly Journal, the Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, the International Review of Industrial Property, Copyright, and Competitional Law and the counterpart German language journals of the Max Planck Institute in Munich, the Journal of Japanese Group of AIPPI, and others.

Intellectual Property Studies in the Nation's Capital

One of the great benefits of studying intellectual property law at GW is that the "real world" is at the student's doorstep. Across the Potomac River stands the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Nearby Capitol Hill is home to the Copyright Office and the House and Senate Judiciary Committees with principal jurisdiction for intellectual property legislation. Students thus have the opportunity not only to observe hearings and oral arguments at many of these institutions but also to work as interns on the Hill, in the executive branch and with bar and trade associations. The National Courts Building on Lafayette Square across from the White House (and four blocks from GW) houses courtrooms of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. In addition, more symposia, seminars, and colloquia relating to intellectual property are held in Washington, D.C., than in any other city in the world.

The Dean Dinwoodey Center

The Dean Dinwoodey Center for Intellectual Property Studies, directed by Professors Martin Adelman and Robert Brauneis, sponsors research, lectures, conferences, and activities on a broad range of intellectual property issues. The Dinwoodey Center sponsors an Intellectual Property Workshop Series that regularly brings in academics from all over the United States and the world to present papers at the Law School. The Center also sponsors symposia that bring together leading academics and jurists to discuss important intellectual property policy topics. For example, GW Law and the Oracle Corporation recently co-sponsored a day-long conference at the Law School entitled, "What’s Ahead on Highway 101?" The Center is funded in part by the Bureau of National Affairs in memory of its founder Dean Dinwoodey, LL.B. '29.