Intended Level of Study
5 years of post-secondary education
ECTS
120 credits
Duration
2 years
Training Structure
School of Law and Political Science
Overview
Specialization in Intellectual Property Law
- Master's in Intellectual Property and Digital Law
Academic Director: Agnès Robin
Objectives
This master's program is designed for anyone with a passion for creativity and communication who wants to understand the legal issues and mechanisms involved.
It is the act of creation, as well as the result of that act, that lie at the heart of the issues addressed in the Master’s program in Intellectual Property and Digital Law.
The subject matter of the law is intellectual creation, and the mechanisms for addressing it are those of intellectual property law, which is conceived as a specialized branch of law that nevertheless intersects with the principles of general law (tort law, law of special contracts, property law, etc.). It is creation that matters, whether traditional or of a new kind: transformative works, musical or olfactory trademarks, plant varieties, commercial “tricks,” and so on—creation confronted with contemporary questions and challenges: online dissemination of hateful content, illegal downloading, filtering and net neutrality, collaborative platforms,open data, open innovation, open source, etc.
Program
The master's program spans two years and four semesters, during which students will acquire a range of skills:
GENERAL SKILLS
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND DIGITAL LAW SKILLS
PRE-PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
CROSS-DISCIPLINARY SKILLS (IP/IT)
SKILLS IN DIGITAL LAW (IT)
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Cross-functional approach
The teaching approach is thus designed to be cross-disciplinary and therefore covers all areas of intellectual property. The following topics are covered:
- copyright,
- the rights of performing artists,
- design rights,
- patent law,
- trademark law,
- plant variety protection,
- and finally, database law.
This approach stems from a practical reality: legal situations are rarely confined to a single area of intellectual property. We are witnessing necessary overlaps that require specialized legal professionals to have a thorough understanding of how these mechanisms interact. For example, it would be inconceivable to analyze a case involving design or ready-to-wear fashion without simultaneously considering copyright law, design law, and trademark law.
Digitization
Furthermore, the philosophy behind this training is comprehensive in an era of digitization: for example, genetic resources, just like museum artifacts, are intended to be incorporated into digital databases that can then be shared via communication networks…
Intellectual property law is therefore now necessarily and closely linked to information and communication technology (ICT) law, or digital law. The various projects involving digital libraries or the dissemination of scientific information through open science are concrete and timely examples of this. Beyond that, the dissemination of information is also a focus of attention, both in terms of liability issues (particularly regarding technical service providers) and with regard to the protection of personal data.
Ubiquity
Finally, as an intangible asset, intellectual creation has a ubiquitous dimension—one that has been amplifiedby the digital revolution—which complicates the application of national (or territorial) rules and therefore requires knowledge of the rules of public and private international law. The specialized legal professional is therefore also confronted with the international dimension of intellectual property and must, in particular, have a thorough understanding of the European Union’s legal sources.
- Is the online infringement of a trademark through an online retail site or an e-commerce platform accessible from France governed by French law or by another legal system?
- Which court has jurisdiction when a crime is committed in multiple locations?
All of these issues justify the program’s emphasis—which it does place—on both international law and the procedural law specific to intellectual property law.
Annual Calendar
► September1 –October1: on-the-job training
► October1 through December 15: Academic training:
(Intellectual Property Practice, Intellectual Property Contracts, European and International Intellectual Property Law, Substantive and Procedural Law on Infringement, IT, etc.)
► December 16 through January 14: on-the-job training
► January 17 through March 31: Academic program “
” (Innovation Management and Strategy, Online Communications Law, E-Commerce Law, IP/IT Law, Mentored Project)
► April1 through August 31: on-the-job training
Select a program
Master's Degree in Intellectual Property and Digital Law
Here, there’s no chapel, no “religious war”: patents versus copyright, or copyright versus copyright... What matters is creation—whether traditional or innovative: transgenic animals and “chimeras,” opera or multimedia works, musical trademarks, scent trademarks, plant varieties as commercial “tricks”…—creation grappling with contemporary questions and challenges: the internet, digital creations, the commercialization of research… With faculty members from universities, the CNRS, the bar association, and the private sector, from France and abroad.
The teaching approach is thus always intended to be comprehensive and interdisciplinary in this era of digitization: for example, genetic resources, just like museum artifacts, are meant to be integrated into and circulated within digital databases… Intellectual property law is therefore now necessarily and intimately linked to communications law .
Originally a Research Master’s program, and after three years of offering both tracks (research and professional), the Master 2 program in “Intellectual Property Law and ICT” is now transitioning to a Professional Master’s program. The focus will thus be even more strongly placed on developing partnerships with practitioners in intellectual property law (lawyers, companies, institutions, collective management organizations, research institutions, etc.) and communication law (media companies, software companies, the Internet Rights Forum, etc.)
This change does not undermine our commitment to balancing theoretical analysis with practical application —which, as is always the case in most of our legal disciplines, enrich each other. Furthermore, the combination of these two approaches allows our students—if they so desire and provided they possess the necessary qualifications—to pursue research in the form of a thesis. To give them the opportunity to demonstrate their aptitude for research, each student will be required to write a research paper.
And, to give them the opportunity to enter the workforce, students will have the chance to complete a three-month internship with a program partner or an organization of their choice, provided that the internship focuses on issues of intellectual property and/or communications law.
EU EU Business Law
5 creditsInsolvency Law, Group 2 (ST)
Intellectual Property Law (ST)
EU Distribution Data
6 creditsPublic Law of Digital Technology (ST)
EU Professional Integration
Choose one of the following two options:
Internship
4 creditsResearch Report
Private Law of Digital Technology (ST)
Optional
Thesis/Supervised Project
Choose one of the following two options:
Thesis
4 creditsSupervised Project
EU Options
Choose one of the following two options:
Online Communication Law (Stakeholders, Tools, etc.)
7 creditsLanguage - IP/IT Law
E-commerce Law (Stakeholders, Instruments, and Contracts)
7 creditsInnovation Management and Strategies
6 credits