Intellectual Property Law

The Edinburgh Law School launched its Masters degree in Intellectual Property Law via distance learning in 2008. This postgraduate course is offered by one of the leading Intellectual Property Centres in the UK - SCRIPT: the AHRC Research Centre for Studies in Intellectual Property and Technology Law, based in the School of Law at the University of Edinburgh. Intellectual Property as a discipline has been offered by the School of Law since the early 1990s and has formed part of the broader LLM in Innovation Technology and the Law.

With the expansion in range and depth of expertise over recent years we are now able to offer a nominate degree in Intellectual Property. Students who study for this degree will benefit not only from the expertise of a number of the authors of Contemporary Intellectual Property: Law and Policy (Cambridge University Press 2007) , one of the leading textbooks on Intellectual Property in the UK, but also from visiting tutors who are expert in the field.

Students on this course will be able to choose from a range of subjects within areas within Intellectual Property. From a focus on the International, through the substantive, to areas of topical concern, students who study for this degree will graduate with in depth knowledge and understanding of Intellectual Property from an International, European and Domestic perspective giving real insights of the place and importance of Intellectual Property in the modern world.

Students will benefit from the expertise of a multidisciplinary team of tutors and will have the opportunity to build extra teaching modules into their programme to further enrich their learning, including modules on medical law, information technology law, translational medicine, forensic computing, data protection, and law & technology in developing countries.

Module Information

Students are required to complete a total of 6 modules (120 credit points) and complete a dissertation (60 credit points) over their chosen period of study.

At least 80 course work credits from

1 Intellectual Property Law 1 - Copyright and Related Rights 20
2 Intellectual Property Law 2 - Industrial Property 20
3 International IP & IT Institutions, Law and Policy 20
4 Intellectual Property and Technology - Developing Countries 20
5 Managing Intellectual Property 20
6 International Intellectual Property 20

Remaining course work credits from

1 Information Technology, Investigation, and Evidence 20
2 Information: Control and Power 20
3 Information Technology Law 20
4 Forensic Computing & Electronic Evidence 20
5 Law & Medical Ethics - Fundamental Issues in Consent and Negligence 20
6 Law & Medical Ethics - Start and End of Life Issues 20
7 International Public Health Law & Security 20
8 Biotechnology, Law & Society 20

Dissertation

Intellectual Property Law 60

Tuition Fees

Full-Time (Distance Learning)

The tuition fee for 2010/2011 is £13,000 for all full-time students enrolled on the distance learning programmes, whether they reside in the UK, an EU country or elsewhere in the world.

Part-Time (Distance Learning)

Part-time students pay the relevant proportion of the tuition fee in each year of study, depending on the duration of the programme that they have chosen.

So students completing the programme over 20 or 24 months pay half of the tuition fee in their first year, and half in their second year of study. Students completing the programme over 32 or 36 months pay a third of the tuition fee in each of their three years of study.

Please note that the University's tuition fee is subject to an annual increase (of approximately 5%). The proportion of the fee that part-time students pay each year is calculated on the basis of the current year's tuition fee.

For example, students enrolling for the 20-month or 24-month programmes starting in 2010/2011will pay half of the full-time tuition fee that year - so £6,500. In their second year of study, they will pay half of the tuition fee set for 2011/2012 - so £6,825 if the anticipated 5% increase is implemented.