George Washington University - Intellectual Property Law Program

The Law School

The George Washington University Law School has been a leader in intellectual property education and scholarship for more than one hundred years. By the time the Intellectual Property LL.M. program was first established at GW in 1895 as a "Master in Patent Law" degree, our alumni had already written the patents for Bell's telephone, Mergenthaler's linotype machine, and Eastman's roll film camera, among hundreds of other inventions, and dozens of our alumni had worked in the Patent Office. As legal issues involving technology have spread beyond the field of patent law, GW Law has remained at the forefront. In the early 1950s, long before the term "intellectual property" was in wide use, The George Washington University recognized the close relations between patents, trademarks, and copyrights by establishing at the Law School the Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Foundation, the country's first research institute in any of those areas.

In recent years, as intellectual property law issues have themselves become more tightly interwoven with issues in commercial law, computer and Internet regulation, communications law, and the regulation of medicine, GW Law has been among the first to add faculty and courses in those areas. At the same time, GW Law has not neglected its core strength in patents, and has continued to develop an unparalleled patent law faculty and curriculum. The result: an Intellectual Property LL.M. Program that is second to none, and that is ready and eager to equip students to deal with the innovations of the coming century.

The Program

The LL.M. degree program is designed for both U.S. and non-U.S. attorneys interested in intensive study of U.S., international, and comparative intellectual property law. Many U.S. attorneys complete the program to gain the specialized knowledge necessary to practice, teach, or regulate in a legal field that has been one of the hottest and most interesting for the last several decades. Many non-U.S. attorneys complete the program to get their first in-depth look at U.S. intellectual property law, while qualifying to take a bar examination that will enable them to practice in one of the United States, such as New York.

While student enrollment at the Law School numbers approximately 1,860, enrollment in the Intellectual Property Law LL.M. program is limited to approximately 30 to 50 students each year.

The Washington, D.C., area has the country's highest concentration of internships with nonprofit and trade groups, courts, and government agencies specialized in intellectual property, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Copyright Office, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

The GW Law Intellectual Property Program maintains an intellectual property internship guide for the benefit of students, and GW students have been successful in getting internships at these organizations. Students who arrange for an approved, nonremunerative placement may receive up to four hours of credit for their work, with five hours of work per week being required for each credit.

Location

One of the great benefits of studying intellectual property law at GW is that the "real world" is at the student's doorstep. Across the Potomac River stands the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Nearby Capitol Hill is home to the Copyright Office and the House and Senate Judiciary Committees with principal jurisdiction for intellectual property legislation. Students thus have the opportunity not only to observe hearings and oral arguments at many of these institutions but also to work as interns on the Hill, in the executive branch and with bar and trade associations.

The National Courts Building on Lafayette Square across from the White House (and four blocks from GW) houses courtrooms of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. In addition, more symposia, seminars, and colloquia relating to intellectual property are held in Washington, D.C., than in any other city in the world.

Summer Program

As a complement to its leading intellectual property program in Washington, DC, GW Law offers a four-week intellectual property law program in Munich, Germany, a vibrant city less than an hour from the Alps that is known as Europe's intellectual property capital. In the summer of 2006, the program ran from July 3rd to July 29th. The ABA-accredited program offers eight one-credit courses of which students can choose up to four, as well as special lectures and visits to local IP institutions such as the European Patent Office. In 2005, 27 students participated in the program: 9 students from GW, 14 students from other law schools across the United States, and four students from foreign countries. Six of the eight courses offered were also open to enrollment by LL.M. students at the Munich Intellectual Property Law Center.