Intellectual Property Law Track
The Intellectual Property Law Program at Maryland Carey Law offers an IP Track for students committed to pursuing careers as intellectual property attorneys. The IP curriculum at Maryland spans the four major areas of intellectual property law: patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secrets. Students on the IP Track will be required to take several core doctrinal courses exploring each of these areas of the law. They will gain valuable practical training by working in the Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic, where they will provide real legal services to entrepreneurial clients from Maryland and the DC metropolitan area, or in an IP externship. Finally, students will have the opportunity to tailor the IP Track to their own personal interests by participating in elective courses focused on advanced IP topics.
Upon graduation, each student who has completed the IP Track will receive a letter from the program director describing the requirements for the Track, how the student successfully fulfilled those requirements, and why he or she is particularly well-suited for a career as an intellectual property attorney.
The Experiential Learning Requirement
In addition to completing the core courses, students on the IP Track must complete at least one semester in the Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic or in an approved IP-related externship. Working under the supervision of experienced faculty members, clinic students provide free legal assistance to high tech startup companies, entrepreneurs and local small businesses. IPEC participates in the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Law School Clinical Certification Program for both patents and trademarks, allowing students to file and prosecute patent and trademark applications while they are enrolled in the clinic. Students may also have an opportunity to work on projects involving copyright or trade secret issues, to draft license agreements and other IP-focused contracts, and to assist with the formation of a business entity.
IPEC is offered in both the fall and spring semesters for 5 credits. Please note that the Intellectual Property Law Survey course is a prerequisite for IPEC and is offered in the fall semester only (the prerequisite can be waived by the Clinic Director for students who have taken multiple other IP courses but were not able to take the Intellectual Property Law Survey).
Students wishing to fulfill the experiential requirement through an externship must receive approval in advance. In the past, students have worked in externships at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the United States Copyright Office, the Federal Trade Commission, and the technology transfer offices of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and other local universities. Other IP-related externships will also be considered. Students are responsible for locating their own externship opportunities. Students in externships are required to participate in the Intellectual Property Law Workshop, a two-hour weekly class meeting at the law school.
At the discretion of the IP Program director, the IP Clinic/Externship requirement may be waived for students with significant practical intellectual property experience (e.g., a student who has worked as a patent examiner). The student may then be asked to take additional IP electives in order to complete the requirements for the IP Track.
Graduate Degree Programs
In addition to our JD Program, the IP Program offers opportunities for students interested in pursuing other advanced degrees. The LLM Program provides advanced legal education for foreign-trained lawyers seeking broad exposure to U.S. law, as well as American attorneys who want to develop specific expertise in intellectual property law.
Learning Outcomes
Read about the learning outcomes associated with the IP Law Track here.
Core Course Requirements
Students on the IP Track will be required to complete at least three of the following five core courses, which must be taken for a grade (i.e., no pass/fail or credit/no credit option). The core courses include the following:
- Intellectual Property Law Survey (3 credits)
- Patent Law (3 credits)
- Trademarks and Unfair Competition (3 credits)
- Copyright Law (3 credits)
- Trade Secrets (2 credits)
Elective Courses
IP Track students will round out their training by taking at least three intellectual property-related electives, selected from the following list:
- Administrative Law (3 credits)
- Advanced Legal Research: Intellectual Property Law (1 credit)
- Advanced Trademark and Unfair Competition Seminar (2 or 3 credits)
- Antitrust Law (3 credits)
- Arts and Media Law (3 credits)
- Foundations in Business Law (3 credits)
- Foundations of IP Practice (3 credits)
- Health Law Seminar: Food and Drug Law (3 credits)
- Information Privacy Law Seminar/Course (3 credits)
- Intellectual Property and Antitrust Law Seminar (3 credits)
- International Intellectual Property Law (2 credits)
- Internet Law (3 credits)
- Journal of Business and Technology Law (1 or 2 credits)
- Law and Policy of Cybersecurity (3 credits)
- Licensing and Technology Transfer Law (3 credits)
- Patent Drafting (2 credits)
- Patent Litigation (3 credits)
- Sports and the Law (3 credits)
- Writing in Law Practice: Drafting Negotiated Agreements (3 credits)
Joining the IP Track
Any student who would like to participate in the Intellectual Property Law Track should submit a request to join the “IP Law Track” course on Blackboard, preferably by November 1 in the fall semester or April 1 in the spring semester. Those enrolled in the Blackboard course are under no obligation to complete the IP Track, but registration gets enrollees on the listserv for information about any Track info sessions or special opportunities available only to IP Law Track students. Students will formally elect the IP Law Track upon completing all of the requirements and requesting a Letter of Completion during the semester they intend to graduate.
Recommended Sequence of Courses
Students on the IP Track are encouraged to adopt the following schedule:
Spring First Year
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Fall Second Year
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Spring Second Year
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Fall Third Year
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Spring Third Year
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IP Law List of Courses
All students are invited and encouraged to sample one or more Intellectual Property classes during their law school careers. We offer a wide variety of courses designed to suit almost any interest. Students with a professional or academic background or even an interest in STEM fields should especially consider taking an IP course.
Not sure where to start? The 3-credit Intellectual Property Law Survey is a great introduction to the field.
If you decide to step further into the world of IP Law, consider our IP Law Track.
Administrative Law (3 credits)
Advanced Legal Research: Intellectual Property Law (1 credit)
Antitrust Law (3 credits)
Foundations in Business Law (3 credits)
Intellectual Property & Entrepreneurship Clinic - Business (5 credits)
Intellectual Property & Entrepreneurship Clinic - Trademark & Copyright (5 credits)
Information Privacy Law Seminar/Course (3 credits)
Intellectual Property Law Survey (3 credits)
Internet Law (3 credits)
Law and Policy of Cybersecurity (3 credits)
Patent Drafting (2 credits)
Patent Litigation (3 credits)
Trade Secrets (2 credits)
Writing in Law Practice: Drafting Negotiated Agreements (3 credits)
Advanced Trademark and Unfair Competition Seminar (2 or 3 credits)
Arts and Media Law (3 credits)
Copyright Law (3 credits)
Foundations of IP Practice (3 credits)
Health Law Seminar: Food and Drug Law (3 credits)
Intellectual Property & Entrepreneurship Clinic - Patent (5 credits)
Intellectual Property and Antitrust Law Seminar (3 credits)
International Intellectual Property Law (2 credits)
Journal of Business and Technology Law (1 or 2 credits)
Licensing and Technology Transfer Law (3 credits)
Patent Law (3 credits)
Sports and the Law (3 credits)
Trademarks and Unfair Competition (3 credits)