J.D. Intellectual Property Emphasis Area Requirements
Student Learning Outcomes
Students graduating from this program will:
- Students will demonstrate mastery of core doctrinal knowledge.
- Students will demonstrate mastery of the skills necessary for objective legal analysis
- Students will demonstrate mastery of the skills necessary for effective legal research.
- Students will demonstrate mastery of legal writing across formats
- Students will demonstrate mastery of the duties of attorneys as members of the legal profession
- Students will demonstrate ability to work with people in a professional environment.
- Students will demonstrate competency in professional work habits
- Students will demonstrate entry-level proficiency in lawyering skills
First Year Required Courses
Full-time students complete the following required courses during the first year:
Full-Time Progress
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Typical Fall Semester | ||
| LAW 8501 | Contracts I | 3 |
| LAW 8634 | Criminal Law | 3 |
| LAW 8531 | Lawyering Skills I 1 | 3 |
| LAW 8541 | Property I | 3 |
| LAW 8511 | Torts | 3 |
| Typical Spring Semester | ||
| LAW 8521 | Civil Procedure – Pleadings, Motions, and Related Matters | 3 |
| LAW 8631 | Constitutional Law | 4 |
| LAW 8502 | Contracts II | 3 |
| LAW 8532 | Lawyering Skills II 1 | 2 |
| LAW 8542 | Property II | 3 |
| Total Credits | 30 | |
| 1 | Lawyering Skills I and II: These two first-year courses introduce students to legal reasoning; analytical and critical thinking; case research and analysis; legal writing, including office memoranda, briefs and letters to and on behalf of clients; advocacy; and all forms of legal research. They offer education in many of the fundamental skills and processes of legal practice through a combination of lecture classes and small group sessions. They are required of all first-year law students in order to supply a strong foundation of thinking, research and writing skills upon which all later, advanced courses will depend. |
Part-time Progress
Students enrolled on a part-time basis typically take three of the required courses, including Lawyering Skills, in their first year. The remaining courses must be completed in their second year of study.
Other Required Courses
Students must complete the following courses as a condition of graduation:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required to be Taken During the Summer Preceding or During the Fall of the Second Year | ||
| LAW 8601 | Business Organizations | 3 |
| LAW 8552 | Federal Taxation | 3 |
| LAW 8522 | Civil Procedure - Jurisdiction | 2 |
| Required to be Taken During the Summer Preceding or During the Second Year | ||
| Evidence | 3 | |
| Required to be Taken Prior to Graduation. | ||
| LAW 8635 | Criminal Procedure I | 3 |
| LAW 8731 | Professional Responsibility | 2 |
| Experiential Course or courses (see below) | 6 | |
| Total Credits | 22 | |
Experiential Course Requirement
A student must take 6 credit hours in a course or combination of courses that meet the school's experiential course requirement. These courses are primarily clinical, internship, or skills simulation courses. Courses fulfilling the requirement will be designated by the faculty.
American Bar Association (ABA) 303(c) Course Requirement
A student must take 1 credit hour in a course that meets the school's ABA 303(c) course requirement. These courses provide education to students on bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism. Courses fulfilling the requirement will be designated by the faculty. This requirement applies to students who matriculated in or after Fall 2023.
Requirements for the J.D. Degree
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Completion of 91 credit hours, 75 of which must be classroom credits.
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A cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 (see Administrative Rules and Regulations, Scholastic Probation and Dismissal, in this section)
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Completion of all required courses (see Required Courses in this section).
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Fulfilling the school's research and writing requirement. This requires students to have a rigorous writing experience evidencing legal analysis resulting in a paper of professional quality.
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Regular and punctual class attendance.
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Successful completion of all coursework within five years from the day students began their course of studies leading toward the degree. A student will not be allowed to enroll in any course after the five-year period, unless an exception is granted by the Student Affairs Committee.
Policy on Certification of Completion of Graduation Requirements for Bar Authorities
The Law School will certify to a state’s bar authorities (such as a board of law examiners) that a student has completed degree requirements and is eligible to take a bar exam only if the following conditions have been met.
1. Graduation Date: A student will not be certified to take a bar exam prior to the date the student’s degree has been awarded. This means that:
a. A May graduate’s first bar exam cannot be before July of the graduation year.
b. An August or December graduate’s first bar exam cannot be before February following the graduation year.
2. Papers: A student writing a paper for any course (including seminars, independent studies, and all other courses) must submit a complete, finished version of the paper by the following dates. The deadlines apply to papers written to fulfill the Research & Writing (R&W) requirement, but the deadlines also apply to all other papers.
a. A student graduating in May and taking the bar exam in July must have every paper completed and submitted to the professor by May 1st of the graduation year.
b. A student graduating in December and taking the bar exam the following February must have every paper completed and submitted to the professor by December 1st of the graduation year.
c. A professor may set an earlier deadline for a particular course, independent study, paper, or R&W requirement.
d. These deadlines are not waivable.
3. Incompletes: A student who has an Incomplete for any credit or credits from a previous semester must have all work required to earn the credits completed by the following dates.
a. A student graduating in May and taking the bar exam in July must have all work required to earn the credits completed by May 1st of the graduation year.
b. A student graduating in December and taking the bar exam the following February must have all work required to earn the credits completed by December 1st of the graduation year.
c. A professor may set an earlier deadline for the completion of any work for an Incomplete.
d. These deadlines are not waivable.
These deadlines will not apply where the student has an Incomplete for credits from a previous semester only because the student was in a course involving a commitment to do something (such as for a law journal, clinic, or field placement) for multiple semesters and credit is not awarded for the prior semester until the full commitment has been completed.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students graduating from this program will:
- Be able to identify legal issues in intellectual property practice and apply basic principles of intellectual property law necessary to resolve those issues. Assessed by essay tests, graded with rubrics, in required courses.
- Be able to use specialized knowledge of intellectual property doctrine to resolve emerging issues in the field. Assessed by tests or papers, graded with rubrics, in elective courses.
- Be able to research advanced topics in the field and use that research to solve a focused, complex issue in the field. Assessed by faculty critique of the research paper requirement and re-writing until paper is of faculty-agreed standard of quality.
Student will have to take a total of 16 credit hours from the below mandatory and elective courses. All courses must be taken for a grade (with the exception of those courses for which a grade option is unavailable).
Required
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| The following class must be taken: | ||
| LAW 8808 | Intellectual Property Law | 2-3 |
| At least two of the following must be taken: | ||
| Business Torts and Unfair Competition | ||
| Copyright Law | ||
| Patent Law | ||
Electives
The remaining hours to be satisfied from the following:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Art Law | ||
| Intellectual Property Licensing | ||
| Seminar in Law Science & Technology | ||
| Patent Prosecution | ||
| Advising Life Sciences and Technology Entrepreneurs | ||
| Intellectual Property Litigation | ||
| Seminar in Advanced Trademark | ||
| Administrative Law | ||
| Sports Law I, Amateur Sports Law | ||
| Sports Law II, Professional Sports Law | ||
| Antitrust And Fair Competition Law | ||
| First Amendment Law | ||
| Cyberlaw | ||
| Entrepreneurial Innovation Mining |
No more than one of the following can count toward the required 16 credit hours: LAW 8910 Intellectual Property Clinic, Technology Transfer Externship, or LAW 8757N Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation (with IP faculty advisor approval).
Other courses may be approved by the IP faculty advisor to count towards the Emphasis. Where a course includes a substantial component of IP law, part of that course may count towards the 16-hour requirement with advance approval from the IP faculty advisor.
The above requirements are in addition to any hours received in connection with completion of the Advanced Research Requirement (See below).
Advanced Research Requirement
A paper satisfying the R&W requirement or an equivalent independent study writing project (including law review notes or comments) must be undertaken by writing on an IP subject, which subject has been approved by the student's IP faculty advisor. This requirement may also be satisfied through the writing of a professional quality brief as a team member in an IP-related competition, such as the Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition, or, with the approval of the student's IP faculty advisor, by writing of a professional quality brief in another equivalent IP competition that has a brief writing component.
Class papers do not satisfy this requirement, but may be expanded as an independent paper or the R&W paper, with approval of the IP faculty advisor, the expanded paper may satisfy this requirement. Any credits earned through satisfaction of this writing requirement will NOT be counted towards the 16 hours.
Practical Skills Requirement
Students must complete at least one course containing a substantial practical skills component. A course used to satisfy the practical skills requirement can also count toward the 16 hours of required coursework. The following courses satisfy this requirement:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation (with IP faculty advisor approval) | ||
| Intellectual Property Clinic | ||
| Intellectual Property Licensing | ||
| Intellectual Property Litigation | ||
| Patent Prosecution | ||
Technology Transfer Externship | ||
Alternatively and with approval of the IP faculty advisor, the requirement may be met by other internships, externships, moot courts, simulation courses, drafting courses, or other courses or activities designed to provide exposure to type of work we performed as IP lawyers in the field.
Ethics Requirement
Ethical considerations will be incorporated into the listed required emphasis area courses.
Important Note: Because the School is committed to keeping up with changes in the practice of law, the requirements for emphasis areas may change during the course of a student's enrollment at the School. The requirements at the time a student is granted admission into the emphasis area are the requirements that govern completion of the student's emphasis requirements. For possible revised requirements that will take effect with the next academic year, ask the emphasis area advisor for the most recent iteration of requirements. A course not listed above can meet emphasis area requirements if approved by the emphasis area advisors.