LLM Intellectual Property Law
Cardiff, United Kingdom
DURATION
1 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
GBP 22,700 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* for overseas | for home: £10,450
Key Summary
Introduction
Our LLM programme in Intellectual Property Law aims to meet the needs of students, lawyers and policymakers who wish to study intellectual property law from an international and comparative perspective.
Intellectual property law is a crucial part of an innovative and creative economy and has become central to government and international policymaking. As a result, there is a need for expertise in the field for lawyers, policymakers and manufacturers involved with developing a knowledge economy. The course would benefit those seeking to practice in the field of intellectual property law or those with an interest in policy in the sphere of innovation or the creative industries.
Develop your knowledge of intellectual property, trademarks, copyrights and patents and more broadly commercial law.
Why Study this Course
Gain knowledge in an area of law which is central to government and international policy-making.
Gain a Broad Picture
Develop the ability to critically assess intellectual property law in a domestic, EU and international context.
Customise your Learning
Benefit from a varied range of modules which allow you to customise the programme to meet your own interests and career goals.
Benefit from Our Research
80% of our research was deemed outstanding for its impact in terms of its reach and significance. (REF 2014).
Demonstrate your Knowledge
Undertake in-depth research in an area of intellectual property law that interests you.
Program Tuition Fee
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
We are committed to investing up to a total of £500,000 in this high-value competitive scholarship scheme to support UK students who are planning to start an eligible Master’s programme in 2024/25.
The Scholarships are each worth £3,000 and will be awarded in the form of a tuition fee discount.
Eligibility
UK students are eligible to apply for the Scholarship. You normally need to have achieved at least a 2.1 or equivalent in your first degree to be eligible. You need to submit an application to study at Cardiff University and be made an offer to study before your fee status can be confirmed.
Curriculum
You must select at least two of your four taught modules and complete the dissertation in the area of Intellectual Property Law. You may also select up to two modules from those listed in any other LLM programme or from a combination of LLM programmes.
The programme is delivered in two stages. Stage One (the taught component) comprises four 30-credit modules; Stage Two comprises the dissertation.
Two of the Stage One modules will be taught and assessed in the first semester and the remaining two in the second semester. You will progress to the dissertation upon successful completion of Stage One.
Year One comprises four taught modules totalling 120 credits. Upon successful completion of the taught stage, you will progress to the 60-credit dissertation.
Modules related to the International Intellectual Property Law focus:
- Copyright: Comparative and International Perspectives
- Patents and Trade Secrets: Comparative and International Perspectives
- Trade Marks: Comparative and International Perspectives
- Commercial Arbitration
Core Modules for Year One
- Dissertation
Optional Modules for Year One
- Insurance Law
- International Sales Law
- Comparative Corporate Governance
- World Trade Law
- International Humanitarian Law
- The Law of Devolution in Wales
- Constitutionalism and Governance
- Human Rights and Global Justice
- Commercial Arbitration
- Environmental and Climate Change Law
- Law of the Sea
- International Refugee Law and Asylum
- Comparative Commercial Law
- Copyright: Comparative and International Perspectives
- Patents and Trade Secrets: Comparative and International Perspectives
- Trade Marks: Comparative and International Perspectives
- Money Laundering and Financial Crime
- Admiralty Law
- Themes in Socio-Legal Studies
- Carriage of Goods by Sea
- International Energy Law
- International Disability Human Rights Law
- International Investment Law
- International Criminal Law
- Medicine, Law and Society
How will I be Assessed?
We make use of both formative and summative assessments.
Formative assessments do not count towards your degree but are designed to give you the opportunity to practice for your summative assessments and enable you and your tutors to assess your progress in your modules. Formative assessments will normally involve written coursework or a class test or may comprise individual student presentations.
Summative assessments count towards your degree. Your marks in these assessments count towards your formal progression from stage one (taught modules) to stage two (the dissertation), and towards the determination of your final award. Summative assessments in stage one will vary by module but will typically involve written coursework (5,000-word essays), unseen examinations or pre-release examinations. The dissertation (up to 15,000 words) comprises the stage two summative assessment.
Program Outcome
What Skills Will I Practise and Develop?
You are expected to assume a greater responsibility for your education as you undertake your postgraduate studies. Through the LLM, you will acquire and develop a range of valuable skills, both those which are discipline-specific and more generic employability skills.
During the programme, you will be able to extend your communication and presentation skills, both oral and written. You will also be able to develop collaborative skills, take leadership roles and enhance skills of disciplined and independent study.
You will be encouraged to work independently to seek out legal materials for yourself, to read and analyse these materials critically and to present structured and reasoned arguments under the guidance of your tutors and supervisors.
You will be provided with training in postgraduate research skills to develop your independent legal analysis, research and writing.
Outside the curriculum, you will have the opportunity to develop wider employability skills through participation in the school’s Law in Action pro-bono schemes run with partner organisations, in which student volunteers assist real people in their dealings with the law. The schemes currently include:
- Law in Justice: the Innocence Project, (dealing with alleged miscarriages of justice)
- Law in Healthcare: the NHS Continuing Healthcare Scheme, (challenges to NHS Healthcare funding assessments)
- Law in Sport: the Rugby Union Project – (providing legal advice and legal newsletters to rugby clubs).
Career Opportunities
A law degree doesn’t restrict graduates to careers within the legal profession and law graduates enter professions as diverse as finance, sales and marketing, digital communications and recruitment.
We are committed to extending extracurricular opportunities to our students, helping to enhance their CVs in a competitive graduate job market. We work in partnership with lawyers, charities and voluntary organisations to give students the opportunity to practise and extend their skills and we run several Pro Bono schemes and provide advice to members of the community on different legal issues.
Students successfully completing the LLM programme may have the opportunity to continue their legal study through the School’s PhD programme or through the Centre for Professional Legal Studies professional programmes (the Legal Practice Course or Bar Professional Training Course).
Program delivery
How will I be Taught?
Studying for an LLM is intensive and challenging and it is important that you take full advantage of the teaching that is provided in order to succeed. Attendance at classes and dissertation supervision is compulsory and we will expect you to be well-prepared.
Our teaching is very flexible and your modules may be delivered through seminars or a combination of lectures and seminars. Other teaching methods include the online use of discussion boards, self-access study packs and formative quizzes and activities.
Modules may be diverse in content to cater for a high proportion of overseas students or students with previous qualifications other than in law. Modules are typically led by experienced staff actively engaged in research relevant to their subject area.