Intellectual Property Law Postgraduate Certificate

Please be aware that we have limited places available and are unable to make any more offers to visa requiring students for entry in January 2023. Interested students should instead apply for entry from September 2023 onwards.

The Brunel Intellectual Property Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) is a unique, part-time programme with two separate routes designed for trainee patent attorneys with STEM degrees or for trainee trade mark attorneys. It is also suitable for people wishing to pursue a more general career in intellectual property law and practice.

The PGCert is accredited with IPREG and provides two separate routes of Foundation Level Qualification (Patents) and a Foundation Level Qualification (Trade Marks). Candidates may undertake either one or the other as part of the PgCert programme or combine the two FLQs in Patents and Trade Marks as part of an LLM in Intellectual Property.

In addition, Intellectual Property PgCert alumni have the option to upgrade to an LLM in Intellectual Property should they choose to re-enrol as returning students within the first five years after their graduation from Brunel.

You will get a comprehensive overview of the theoretical, practical and management aspects of intellectual property, at both national and international levels, with a solid grounding in:

• the basic rules and principles of intellectual property law as well as the nature and scope of these rights 
• the procedures for the granting and recognition of these rights 
• the mechanisms for the enforcement of these rights 
• patents, copyrights, trademarks and contract resolution

The course is suitable for law graduates and those with backgrounds in the sciences, technology, engineering and business. Non-graduates currently working in the area of intellectual property are also considered. No prior legal knowledge is required, as you will be introduced to the essential legal principles throughout the course. As this is a part-time, you can remain in full-time employment while you study. UK employers currently sponsor over 80% of students taking the course.

The programme runs from the end of September to the end of March and is delivered on Wednesdays from 1pm to 5pm and will take 8 months to complete.  It is also possible to start the course in January and complete in a year.

As innovation in technology, medicine and business methods advance, employers are looking for candidates with the skill and knowledge to keep up with the complexities of intellectual property law. Your Brunel Intellectual Property PGCert will do just that and make you a preferred prospect by law firms and businesses.

The Intellectual Property Law PgCert consists entirely of compulsory modules which are delivered on-line.

This course can be studied 8 months part-time, starting in September. Or this course can be studied 1 year part-time, starting in January.

You will leave Brunel with a firm grounding in Intellectual Property Law. After you graduate you will be well equipped to get into the specialist area of Intellectual Property as a practitioner or adviser at national or international level or as a lawyer, patent or trademark attorney, IP portfolio manager, IP examiner, or IP paralegal.

Our students in recent years went on to pursue careers in range of high-profile organisations such as White and Case LLP, Trade Mark Wizards, European Parliament, ECDC- Ocean Accelerator Inc. and Patent and Trademark Clinic (PTC).

• A 2:2 (or above) UK Honours degree, or equivalent internationally recognised qualification, in Law, Sciences, Engineering, Technology and Humanities (i.e. Psychology; Sociology).

Other related disciplines and qualifications, in conjunction with patents and intellectual property work experience, will be considered.

• IELTS: 6.5 (min 6 in all areas)
• Pearson: 59 (59 in all subscores)
• BrunELT: 63% (min 58% in all areas)
• TOEFL: 90 (min 20 in all) 

Each module will be assessed independently by way of a written examination or coursework.