Intellectual Property Law and Practice PgDip

University of Oxford

The Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Intellectual Property Law and Practice is a vocational course for people embarking on a career in intellectual property (IP) law and practice. It is a one-year, part-time course, taught by senior practitioners and academics, and designed to provide a grounding in the fundamentals of IP law and practice.

The diploma comprises a two-week residential programme held in September at one of Oxford's colleges and a series of weekend workshops held from October to June in London law firms. Teaching is provided by a mix of practising and academic lawyers and covers the full range of IP subjects, including patents, trademarks, unfair competition and passing off, trade secrets, designs, copyright and moral rights as well as key aspects of litigious and non-litigious IP practice and procedure.

The residential programme is taught by means of a series of lectures delivered in close succession which contextualise the various course elements and make conceptual links between them, and also deal with the more theoretical elements of the course. The workshop sessions involve interactive seminars in which students are taught in small groups by experienced IP practitioners, and help them to build on the theoretical grounding gained from the residential programme. Students are responsible for their own academic progress. What this will mean in practical terms will vary significantly from one week to the next given the fact that the great majority of students taking the diploma are doing so while continuing to meet important professional commitments.

During the academic year you will be advised to divide your time as follows:

• At least four hours in preparation for each workshop, 1-/1.5 hours watching the online lecture and the remainder of the time familiarising yourself with the pre-workshop readings.
• Eight hours per workshop
• Ten to sixteen hours of work for each assignment

The PG Dip is not available by distance learning. All students must attend the residential programme and all workshops in Oxford and London in person.

Although there will be no requirement to reside in Oxford or London, students must be able to travel to either location on a monthly basis so they would need to be based within a comfortable travelling distance from both cities.