Intellectual Property & Information Technology

By combining information technology and intellectual property law together, this programme offers a deeper understanding of the interrelationship between these two topics which have emerged as significant areas in the future development of law. The School has established links with the UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics to promote greater understanding in the information technology area. Members of staff in the Sutherland School of Law have engaged in major research in this area spanning the full range of information technology and intellectual property from internet filtering, data protection to the protection of confidential information.

To understand and think critically about various facets of Information Technology Law, Intellectual Property Law and their inter-relationship

To apply their knowledge and understanding of Information Technology Law and Intellectual Property Law to real and hypothetical factual situations

To conduct independent research and write coherent, well-structured papers.

The LLM requires the completion of 90 ECTS. The dissertation is worth 30 ECTS and there is a dissertation seminar in semester 2 for 2 hours per week with the dissertation being completed in Semester 3.

The typical enrolment for a full-time student is 3 modules in Semester 1 and 2. Although all modules are available, students on this programme usually choose from the following modules.

Part-time students, taking the degree over two years, should note that classes are as for those taking the full time option, but will take less credits per semester as they have 2 years to complete this programme.

For January start Full Time students the Dissertation seminars begin straight away and the dissertation will take place during the summer

Stage 1 - Core
Dissertation - LAW40290

Stage 1 - Option
International Commercial ArbitrationLAW40060
Foundations of Environmental LawLAW40120
International Competition LawLAW40150
Trade Mark LawLAW40280
Advanced Issues in European Competition LawLAW40360
Corporate GovernanceLAW40670
NGOs: Law, Governance and Social ChangeLAW40760
Law of the ECHRLAW40780
Law and Governance of the EULAW41040
Climate Change Law and PolicyLAW41090
Online RegulationLAW41150
Data Protection and Privacy: National and International PerspectivesLAW41270
White Collar CrimeLAW41500
Data Protection GovernanceLAW41790
Copyright LawLAW42000
Financial RegulationLAW42010
Law of Armed ConflictLAW42020
Cybersecurity Law and RegulationLAW42160

Degree Requirements

Applicants must hold a Law degree, or an inter-disciplinary degree in which law was a major component. Applicants must have achieved at least an upper second class honours or equivalent.

Applicants holding a Graduate Diploma in Law (60 ECTS Credits) may be considered but will normally be admitted only where they can show an exceptionally strong performance in both their undergraduate degree and diploma.

Exemption from these requirements may be given to those with significant, relevant, practical experience or those with a graduate qualification at Masters level or higher in a relevant discipline. Such applicants should state clearly in their application why they feel their qualifications/experiences are appropriate for admission to the programme.

These are the minimum entry requirements – additional criteria may be requested for some programmes

English Language Requirements
Applicants whose first language is not English must submit satisfactory evidence of competence in written and spoken English, i.e. overall IELTS 6.5 (including a minimum of 6.5 in the reading and writing parts and no part below 6.0) or 90 in the TOEFL iBT (with a minimum of 22 (reading) and 24 (writing) and no part below 20.) The test results must be less than 2 years old.

Students meeting the programme’s academic entry requirements but not the English language requirements, may enter the programme upon successful completion of UCD’s Pre-Sessional or International Pre-Master’s Pathway programmes. Please see the following link for further information http://www.ucd.ie/alc/programmes/pathways/

The School encourages all applicants whose first language is not English to attend the pre-sessional English programme offered by the UCD Applied Language Centre, details of which are available at www.ucd.ie/alc.
International applicants should visit the UCD International Office website (www.ucd.ie/international) for information regarding our campus, location of UCD, visa information, registration and orientation.

Application Procedure
Applicants should indicate which programme they are applying for. All applicants should note:

Official transcripts must be submitted as proof of examination results by all applicants except UCD graduates.

The personal statement is an important component of the application. It should contain information demonstrating your capability to undertake the course successfully. You should detail any relevant research and practical experience including any publications and major essays/projects.

Applicants must nominate two academic referees (name, position, postal address, e-mail address and telephone number). If an applicant has been in employment for more than two years, one of the referees must be your employer.

Please note: If you are offered a place on the LLM programme, accepting that place is a two-part process. You must submit an on-line acceptance and you must also pay a non-refundable deposit (normally €500) within 15 working days of the date of your offer letter.

Letter Of Recommendation

LLM Intellectual Property & Information Technology FT (B296)
Deadline: Rolling*

LLM Intellectual Property & Information Technology PT (B297)
Deadline: Rolling*

* Courses will remain open until such time as all places have been filled, therefore early application is advised.

90

B296: 1 year full-time
B297: 2 years part-time
Mode of delivery: Face-to-Face

LLM Intellectual Property & Information Technology (B296) Full Time
EU fee per year - € 9320
nonEU fee per year - € 19900

LLM Intellectual Property & Information Technology (B297) Part Time
EU fee per year - € 4660
nonEU fee per year - € 9950

***Fees are subject to change

Tuition fee information is available on the UCD Fees website. Please note that UCD offers a number of graduate scholarships for full-time, self-funding international students, holding an offer of a place on a UCD graduate degree programme. For further information please see International Scholarships (Non-EU Students).

We also offer scholarships for EU applicants. All applicants who apply before May 31st will be included. Further details at http://www.ucd.ie/law/study/scholarships/

Next Intake: 2024/2025 September.

Careers & Employability
The aim of this programme is to equip graduates with the knowledge, skills and capacity to work in the area of information technology and intellectual property law, whether domestically or internationally, as a practising lawyer, in-house legal adviser, policy maker or researcher. Companies include Arthur Cox, Slaughter & May.

Several UCD careers events are held throughout the year, including dedicated law careers fairs which are attended by top employers. For specific careers advice, the UCD Sutherland School of Law has a dedicated careers advisor on its academic faculty.