C04363v1 Juris Doctor Master of Intellectual Property
Award(s): Juris Doctor (JD)Master of Intellectual Property (MIP)
Commonwealth supported place?: No
Load credit points: 168
Course EFTSL: 3.5
Location: City campus
Notes
This course is not offered to international students.
Overview
Course aims
Career options
Admission requirements
Recognition of prior learning
Course duration and attendance
Course structure
Course completion requirements
Course program
Levels of award
Transfer between UTS courses
Professional recognition
Other information
Overview
UTS has established expertise in and a reputation for providing courses relevant to the needs of the patent and trade mark professions. The UTS Juris Doctor Master of Intellectual Property is the first at an Australian university that fulfils the entire educational requirements for registration as a registered trade marks attorney and patent attorney in Australia under the relevant regulations.
The Juris Doctor (JD) is a graduate law degree that builds on the established reputation of UTS: Law to provide high-calibre, graduate-level education in the theory and practice of the law. It is specifically designed for graduates of disciplines other than law. The Juris Doctor qualifies as an Australian Qualifications Framework level 9 master's degree. The flexible nature of the JD allows students to work while they study and to tailor their workload to suit professional and personal commitments.
This course brings together knowledge and skills across the two areas of intellectual property and law. Students seeking exposure to both areas are able to undertake study in this one integrated course. Upon successful completion of this course students can seek registration as a trade marks attorney and patent attorney in Australia. This course provides students with the academic qualification required for admission to legal practice. Students who undertake additional study in Practical Legal Training (PLT) satisfy the practical requirements to seek admission, together with the academic requirements, to legal practice. UTS offers PLT with the Graduate Certificate in Professional Legal Practice (C11232).
Course aims
This course provides graduates with an understanding of the principles of the law and the Australian legal system, the registered trade marks system, the protection of unregistered marks and related forms of protection against misleading or unfair trading conduct in Australia.
Career options
Career options also include, but are not limited to, lawyer within a private firm, government department or community law centre, patent and trade marks attorney, IP lawyer, IP portfolio manager, policy maker and government regulator in the public or private sector or legal IP specialisation related to students' previous degree or enhanced career options within an existing professional sphere.
Admission requirements
Applicants must have completed a UTS recognised bachelor's degree, or an equivalent or higher qualification, or submitted other evidence of general and professional qualifications that demonstrates potential to pursue graduate studies.
For this course the equivalent qualification required is a bachelor's degree in a discipline other than law or a law qualification from an overseas jurisdiction. Admission is at the discretion of the associate dean (education).
The English proficiency requirement for local applicants with international qualifications is: Academic IELTS: 6.5 overall with a writing score of 6.0; or TOEFL: paper based: 550-583 overall with TWE of 4.5, internet based: 79-93 overall with a writing score of 21; or AE5: Pass; or PTE: 58-64; or CAE: 176-184.
Eligibility for admission does not guarantee offer of a place.
Recognition of prior learning
Recognition of prior learning in the UTS Intellectual Property courses is generally not granted for subjects not primarily directed to Australian or New Zealand law.
Exemption may be granted from 77905 Preparing for Intellectual Property Practice for:
- completion of a dedicated intellectual property subject in the last six years, and
- completion of a degree leading to practise as a legal practitioner, and
- a current Australian Practising Certificate.
The Trans-Tasman Intellectual Property Attorneys Board (TTIPAB) – the body that registers Australian and New Zealand Trade Marks and Patent Attorneys – may not recognise subject exemptions recognised by UTS students in the UTS Intellectual Property courses. Students intending to seek registration from the TTIPAB should seek RPL from the TTIPAB directly, and are advised to do this prior to seeking recognition of prior learning towards the UTS Intellectual Property courses.
Subjects undertaken within the Graduate Certificate in Trade Mark Law and Practice (C11130), Graduate Certificate in Intellectual Property (C11229) and Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property (C06099) are recognised within the Juris Doctor Graduate Certificate in Trade Mark Law and Practice.
More detailed information (including application, credit point limits, time limits, appeal of decision, record of precedent) about recognition of prior learning in the Juris Doctor Master of Intellectual Property is available at postgraduate course information.
Course duration and attendance
The standard course can be completed in three-and-a-half years of full-time study. There are two intakes a year (in Autumn and Spring sessions).
All subjects within the intellectual property component of the course can be studied by distance, requiring no on-campus attendance. All lectures, tutorials, course materials and assessments are distributed by a combination of web-based technology and electronic media. Students conduct all communication with the lecturer by electronic means. A number of subjects are concurrently offered in traditional face-to-face on-campus format.
Subjects in the Juris Doctor (C04236) component of the course are offered in face-to-face mode or blended mode (face-to-face and online).
Course structure
The course comprises a total of 168 credit points. The study components for course completion are as follows:
- 108 credit points of compulsory core law subjects (15 subjects)
- a 6-credit-point legal theory option (one subject)
- 48 credit points of intellectual property options (eight subjects), and
- a 6-credit-point option (one subject).
As part of the intellectual property component of the course, students must complete 77905 Preparing for Intellectual Property Practice.
Subjects are timetabled annually, but not all subjects are offered every session. The UTS Timetable Planner enables current and future UTS students to view subject timetables.
Industrial training/professional practice
To practise as a lawyer in NSW, students need to successfully complete an accredited legal qualification and an accredited course of practical legal training (PLT), such as the Graduate Certificate in Professional Legal Practice (C11232).
Course completion requirements
| STM90831 Core subjects (JD) | 108cp | |
| CBK90921 Options (Legal Theory PG) | 6cp | |
| CBK90711 Choice | 48cp | |
| CBK91267 Options | 6cp | |
| Total | 168cp |
Course program
Students in the standard full-time program enrol in 24 to 26 credit points in Autumn and Spring sessions. Optional subjects are regularly timetabled but not all options are offered in any one session. Students may choose to study one of the 30 credit-point option subjects instead of the 6 credit-point legal theory subject in the recommended sequence, provided that they complete the legal theory subject in a later session.
The standard full-time program is shown below.
| Autumn commencing, full time | ||
| Year 1 | ||
| Autumn session | ||
| 70102 Foundations of Law | 8cp | |
| 70103 Ethics Law and Justice | 6cp | |
| 70114 Criminal Law and Procedure | 8cp | |
| Spring session | ||
| 70211 Contracts | 8cp | |
| 70311 Torts | 8cp | |
| 70616 Australian Constitutional Law | 8cp | |
| Year 2 | ||
| Autumn session | ||
| 70327 Introduction to Property and Commercial Law | 6cp | |
| 70104 Civil Practice | 6cp | |
| 70617 Administrative Law | 8cp | |
| 70109 Evidence | 6cp | |
| Spring session | ||
| 70317 Real Property | 8cp | |
| 70517 Equity and Trusts | 8cp | |
| 70106 Principles of Public International Law | 6cp | |
| Year 3 | ||
| Autumn session | ||
| 71116 Remedies | 6cp | |
| 70107 Principles of Company Law | 8cp | |
| 77905 Preparing for Intellectual Property Practice | 6cp | |
| 77898 Patent Law | 6cp | |
| Spring session | ||
| 77889 Trade Marks Law | 6cp | |
| 77890 Trade Marks Practice | 6cp | |
| 77895 Interpretation and Validity of Patent Specifications | 6cp | |
| Select 6 credit points from the following: | 6cp | |
| 78210 Law and Literature | 6cp | |
| 78235 Justice | 6cp | |
| 78236 Environmental Ethics | 6cp | |
| 78238 History and Theory of Intellectual Property | 6cp | |
| 78239 Feminist Perspectives on Law and Justice | 6cp | |
| 78241 Reading the Law: Language, Power and Ideology | 6cp | |
| 78218 Animal Law and Policy in Australia | 6cp | |
| 78126 Corporate Governance | 6cp | |
| 78270 Crime, Victims and Criminal Justice | 6cp | |
| Year 4 | ||
| Autumn session | ||
| 77891 Patent Systems | 6cp | |
| 77893 Designs Law and Practice | 6cp | |
| 77894 Drafting of Patent Specifications | 6cp | |
| Select 6 credit points from the following: | 6cp | |
| CBK91267 Options | 6cp | |
Levels of award
The Juris Doctor may be awarded with distinction. An additional year of study is not required. To qualify for distinction, a student must complete 77740 Research Paper within CBK90920 Options (JD). The rules governing the Juris Doctor with distinction can be found in postgraduate course information. See coursework research on the UTS: Law website for information on how to apply to enrol.
Refer to the honours entry in the UTS: Handbook 2014 for the pre-2015 honours rules and regulations for the Juris Doctor (C04236).
Transfer between UTS courses
Subjects undertaken within the Juris Doctor component of the course are recognised within the Master of Legal Studies (C04264), the Graduate Diploma in Legal Studies (C07122) and the Graduate Certificate in Legal Studies (C11264). Students who have completed the Juris Doctor component may apply to internally transfer to the master's, graduate diploma or graduate certificate. Candidates are not awarded the Juris Doctor but subjects undertaken are applied towards the master's, graduate diploma or graduate certificate.
Students who successfully complete the Juris Doctor component at UTS and have completed Master of Laws (C04143) equivalent subjects within the Juris Doctor, may apply for these subjects to be credited towards the Master of Laws (C04143).
Professional recognition
The Juris Doctor component of the course satisfies the requirements for admission as a lawyer to the Supreme Court of NSW, provided students undertake a PLT program, such as the Graduate Certificate in Professional Legal Practice (C11232).
The intellectual property component of the course meets the educational requirements for registration as a patent attorney and trade marks attorney in Australia and New Zealand with the Australian Government's Trans-Tasman IP Attorneys Board for Patent and Trade Marks Attorneys can be fulfilled by completing all eight accredited subjects in this course.
Prospective students should check with the Trans-Tasman IP Attorneys Board for specific subjects required to be completed for registration.
Other information
Further information for future students is available on:
telephone +61 2 9514 3660
email law@uts.edu.au
Further information for current students is available on:
telephone 1300 ask UTS (1300 275 887)
Ask UTS