Master in Intellectual Property and New Technologies

The program delivers comprehensive knowledge on the legal protection and commercial exploitation of new technologies. New technologies create new opportunities in life and science and build bridges between people from different countries and cultures. They also pose serious challenges, especially for intellectual property law. The program offers an extensive curriculum on intellectual property law related to new technologies, considered from an international perspective. It adopts a comparative approach to IP regulations, with EU law serving as a main point of reference.

The program is developed in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Its main focus is on the following issues: new technologies and patent law; copyright in the digital era; commercial communication in the context of trademarks, designs, and unfair competition; data protection, privacy, and personal rights on the Internet; Internet service providers’ liability; and more.

The program takes advantage of new technologies. Its first, non-residential semester is realized online, through a state-of-the-art e-learning platform. The remaining two residential semesters, which take place in Kraków, combine traditional lectures and seminars with e-learning.

The Jagiellonian University in Krakow

Join us at Jagiellonian University, the best and the most prestigious university in Poland, with a very rich tradition of academic excellence that dates back to the fourteenth century.

Live and study at the academic heart of Central Europe, the home of excellent researchers in many disciplines, including the humanities, social sciences, medicine, mathematics, and natural sciences. The University has many international partners, and our students benefit from various forms of study exchange, shared virtual classrooms, visits of guest professors, and many other aspects of international cooperation. The Faculty of International and Political Studies, which will be your home department, is widely recognized for its research on areas and countries, politics, international relations, and intercultural studies.

Structure

First semester

Requirements of 26 ECTS points

Distance Learning courses, 6 ECTS:

• Patent Law (including WIPO DL-301 Patents)
• Trademark law and allied rights (including WIPO DL-302 Trademarks, Industrial Designs, and Geographical Indications)
• Copyright Law (including WIPO DL-201 Copyright and Related Rights)

Distance Learning courses, 4 ECTS:

• Introduction to EU Law
• New technologies, Ethical, Social, and Legal perspective

Distance Learning courses, 0 ECTS, 1 BHK credit:

• On-line training on work safety regulation

Second semester

Requirements of 35 ECTS points

Courses delivered in phase two will be divided into two categories:

• Main obligatory courses
• Specialized courses delivered for working groups or in the ‘master-follower’ formula

Main courses

Designed in form of 10 session course with a total number of 30 hours, 17 ECTS in total

• New technologies and patents, 5 ECTS
• Copyright in the digital age, 5 ECTS
• Commercial communication, 5 ECTS

Designed in form of 5 sessions course with a total number of 10 hours

• English in IP matters, 2 ECTS

17 ECTS in total

Specialized facultative courses. At least 6 courses (18 ECTS points) are required from the list announced in the academic year:

• Resolving IP and Technology Disputes through Mediation and Arbitration, 3 ECTS
• Digital content, 3 ECTS
• Privacy and personal rights on the Internet, 3 ECTS
• ISPs liability, 3 ECTS
• Protection and licensing of software, databases, and computer games, 3 ECTS
• Infringements of IPRs in the field of new technologies, 3 ECTS
• Jurisdiction and choice of law on the Internet, 3 ECTS
• IP overlaps, 3 ECTS
• Future law for next technologies, 3 ECTS
• Patents, Access to Medicines and Human Rights, 3 ECTS

Designed in the form of 3-6 sessions.

Phase two includes a study visit to The Polish Patent Office including specialized training on:

• Drafting and amendment of patent documents, specifications, and claims
• Online search, drafting, and filing tools

Third semester

Requirements of 30 ECTS points

Phase three is organized in both online and residential formula with accompanied obligatory 1-month internship offered by the Program or, after approval, arranged by a student.

To complete the third semester, students need to prepare a written master thesis meeting requirements provided by the supervisor as well as pass the oral Master’s exam.

Students are supported by the master thesis advisors in their research work, collecting information from relevant sources and responding and providing other required help during one of the following seminars:

• Patents and new technologies
• Copyright and new technologies
• Trademarks and design
• Media & privacy

Teaching staff with the participation of WIPO experts

The learning experience will be enhanced and inspired by experienced academics from the Faculty of Law and Administration, mainly Intellectual Property Chair of Jagiellonian University in Krakow, experts from WIPO, the Polish Patent Office, and leading research centers specializing in IP in new technologies, as well as practitioners with high expertise in the field of new technologies.

In the 2021-2022 academic year, the following WIPO experts provide Program courses:

• Professor Ansgar Ohly (Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich)
• Professor Duncan Matthews (Queen Mary School of Law)
• Professor Aurelio Lopez-Tarruella (University of Alicante)
• Professor María de Lourdes Vázquez (University of San Andrés)

Graduate’s profile

Graduates of the program are well-prepared for working in international and domestic corporations and institutions active in the area of new technologies, or in non-governmental organizations. Their knowledge and competencies may be of special value to those entrepreneurs and legal firms which operate in the demanding new technologies markets. Students may continue their education in Poland and/or abroad.

The Intellectual Property Rights Chair provides also the opportunity to apply for doctoral programs at the Jagiellonian University.