Intellectual property degree programs
The Pierce advantage : Nine opportunities to leading to credentials in IP, commerce and technology
The Juris Doctor Degree with intellectual property concentration
Franklin Pierce Law Center is one of the world's premier law schools for the study of intellectual property law. Pierce Law is a pioneer in training lawyers of all backgrounds and specialties to deal with technological and scientific legal issues, while at the same time offering an internationally recognized program for specialists in patent law and related intellectual property fields. Our graduates are employed in leading patent firms, corporate legal departments, software companies, and broadcast networks around the world.
Pierce Law offers the most extensive selection of intellectual property courses in the country, exposing students to a wide variety of current intellectual property issues. Our nationally and internationally recognized policy is making seminars and conferences act as both a catalyst and a testing ground for ideas and concepts in their formative stages. Pierce Law continues its mission, as a pioneer in integrating intellectual property studies into legal education, while maintaining its position as one of the nation's smallest independent law schools.
Approximately 35% of students at our law school have the solid training in engineering or the physical sciences required for patent law itself. The intellectual property programs are also designed for students specializing in those areas for which a science or technology background is not required. These areas include copyrights for literature, art, or computer software; trademarks; trade secrets; licensing; e-Commerce; and cybercrimes.
Pierce Law integrates traditional and IP courses with the practical skills necessary for practicing law in a rich and profound way. We take you beyond the traditional course list with increasingly responsible, complex and professional work available through externships, clinics, independent studies and research. Juris Doctor students also have the opportunity to participate in Appellate Moot Court and Trial Moot Court competitions as well as edit and write for several publications, including Pierce Law Review. As a result, students gain both a thorough academic grounding and an opportunity to develop and actually use hands-on-skills. By second semester in the first year, Pierce Law students can begin shaping their future by selecting electives in IP, commerce and technology.
Joint Juris Doctor and Master of Laws (LLM) Degree in Intellectual Property
A typical JD program (including ours) spans three regular academic years. Heavy specialization is possible but often by sacrificing some of the traditional JD curriculum needed for well-rounded legal training. Our Master of Laws (LLM) Degree in Intellectual Property and Master of Intellectual Property (MIP) offers both intensive and extensive IP training. By pursuing our Joint Degree Programs, people can, with careful planning and hard work, earn both degrees in three years. Although some classes count toward both degrees, you should plan for at least one Intellectual Property Summer Institute. Graduates who have pursued this option can justly claim both breadth and depth in their IP and general legal education.
Graduate programs
Pierce Law offers both an interdisplinary Master degree and a Master of Laws (LLM) degree, allowing students the choice of three distinct concentrations: Intellectual Property, Commerce and Technology or International Criminal Law and Justice. Each concentration offers dozens of courses, allowing students to focus acutely in specific areas of interest.
Master of Laws in Intellectual Property (LLM-IP)
The Master of Laws in Intellectual Property (LLM-IP) is an academic degree designed for law graduates (JD or LLB) who desire a postgraduate law degree. The LLM degree is particularly recommended for candidates who are interested in pursuing a career in teaching and research in intellectual property. The LLM candidate must complete 24 or 30 credits of resident coursework. The LLM allows students to earn a graduate law degree which focuses more on the business and transactional aspects of intellectual property practice, rather than on purely legal issues. Lawyers and members of law faculties who have come for the LLM, without prior enrollment in intellectual property courses, will find Pierce Law's program particularly useful for pursuing specialized intellectual property practice.
Master of Intellectual Property (MIP)
The Law Center's Master of Intellectual Property (MIP) program was the first of its kind in the United States to provide legal training in intellectual property for managers as well as lawyers. An interdisciplinary one-year program, the MIP is designed to prepare students for a career in intellectual property. The program focuses on the acquisition of both substantive knowledge and practical skills through innovative academic courses and internships with corporations, law firms and governmental agencies.
The MIP Program enrolls lawyers, law students, business executives, patent and trademark practitioners, administrators and technology managers. Both programs are designed to meet the needs of working intellectual property professionals. Attendance at our Intellectual Property Summer Institute in Concord, NH, is included in the tuition for the MIP or LLM program. Students may enter the MIP or LLM program in the Fall or Spring semesters.
Diploma of Intellectual Property (DIP)
The Law Center's Diploma of Intellectual Property (DIP) program was the first of its kind in the United States to provide legal training in intellectual property for managers as well as lawyers. It is designed for those who cannot afford the time or money to attend the MIP Program. Like the MIP, the DIP is an interdisciplinary program. The DIP is designed to prepare students for a career in intellectual property. The program focuses on the acquisition of both substantive knowledge and practical skills through innovative academic courses.
The DIP programs enroll lawyers, law students, business executives, patent and trademark practitioners, administrators and technology managers. Both programs are designed to meet the needs of working intellectual property professionals.
Commerce and technology programs
Master of Commerce and Technology (MCT)
In 1999, Pierce Law established the Center for Law, Technology and Management to be the focus for research projects and programs at the intersection of the technological, legal and managerial worlds. Professor William Murphy was appointed the first director and continues in that role. The Master of Commerce and Technology degree is for those students interested in the emerging technologies which so significantly transform the way we conduct business and manage intellectual property. The degree focuses on a variety of increasingly important Information Age law areas such as cybercrime, internet regulation, identity theft, e-Commerce and Information Age civil liberties, as well as the interface between law and business. The (MCT) program enrolls lawyers, law students, business executives, patent and trademark practitioners, administrators and technology managers. The program is designed to meet the needs of working commerce and technology professionals.
Master of Laws in Commerce and Technology (LLM-CT)
The Master of Laws in Commerce and Technology (LLM-CT) is an academic degree designed for law graduates (JD or LLB) who desire a postgraduate law degree. The LLM degree is particularly recommended for candidates who are interested in pursuing a career in teaching and research in commerce and technology and allows the student to earn a graduate law degree which focuses more on the business and transactional aspects of intellectual property practice, rather than on purely legal issues. The LLM candidate must complete 30 credits of resident coursework. Lawyers and members of law faculties who have come for the LLM, without prior enrollment in commerce and technology courses, will find Pierce Law's program particularly useful for pursuing specialized intellectual property practice. Attendance at our Intellectual Property Summer Institute in Concord, NH, is included in the tuition for the MCT or LLM program. Students may enter the MCT or LLM program in the Fall or Spring semesters.
Diploma in Commerce & Technology (DCT)
The Law Center's Diploma in Commerce & Technology (DCT) program was the first of its kind in the United States to provide legal training in commerce and technology for managers as well as lawyers. It is designed for those who cannot afford the time or money to attend the MCT Program. Like the MCT, the DCT is an interdisciplinary program. The DCT is designed to prepare students for a career in commerce and technology law and management. The program focuses on the acquisition of both substantive knowledge and practical skills through innovative academic courses.
The DCT programs enroll lawyers, law students, business executives, patent and trademark practitioners, administrators and technology managers. Both programs are designed to meet the needs of working commerce and technology professionals.
Certificate programs : Intellectual Property Summer Institute (IPSI) and Advanced Licensing Institute (ALI)
For those who desire to learn about IP in a short non-degree short non-intensive format, Pierce Law offers two Institutes that award Certificates.
Franklin Pierce Law Center's Intellectual Property Summer Institute, established in 1987, is the most comprehensive academic summer program in intellectual property law and licensing (technology transfer) in the United States. Each year the Intellectual Property Summer Institute (IPSI) includes students from Pierce Law, students from ABA-accredited law schools and intellectual property attorneys and professionals from around the world.
The Advanced Licensing Institute presents a unique program on licensing and technology transfer for intellectual property and licensing professionals, university and corporate technology managers, and law and graduate students. Participants will gain keen insights into the basic organization and subtle details of licensing and technology transfer negotiations and agreements.
Now in its seventeenth year, the Institute is a special experience, comprehensive yet in-depth, providing mastery of the:
- Time tested: antitrust, taxation, ethics and negotiation strategies
- Special niches: biotechnology, university, government, software and merchandising
- Cutting-edge: IP valuation, international, alternative dispute resolution in licensing and technology transfer law and practice
