Teaching

Excellent teaching is at the core of our unit’s activities. We strive to impart topical knowledge spanning the different areas of intellectual property law, with particular emphasis on the developmental effects of IP protection. For our courses, we make extensive use of UCT’s open-source learning, collaboration and research content management system, VULA. VULA (which means “open” in several South African languages) is being built on a technology developed by a consortium of universities including UCT, MIT, Stanford, the University of Michigan and Indiana University.

In 2017 the IP Unit offers the following courses:

LL.B. Intellectual Property Electives

  • CML4503F Intellectual Property Law A
  • CML4504S Intellectual Property Law B

LL.M. Programme
(F=first semester courses; S=second semester courses)

  • CML5657F Electronic Intellectual Property Law
  • CML5678F Principles of Intellectual Property Law
  • CML5680S Advanced Intellectual Property Law
  • CML5681W Masters in IP Law Dissertations
  • CML5691S Intellectual Property Law, Development and Innovation
  • CML5702W Research Project (Intellectual Property Law)

In order to qualify for a Masters degree in Intellectual Property Law, a student must complete four courses, including at least three of the following: CML5657F, CML5678F, CML5680S and CML5691S. LL.M. students must complete a minor dissertation of not more than 25,000 words on an IP-related topic approved by the programme convenor Lee-Ann Tong.

We now also offer a Professional Masters degree programme in Intellectual Property Law which is examined by coursework and a research project. The curriculum comprises four compulsory courses (CML5657F, CML5678F, CML5680S and CML5691S) and an independent research component. This may consist of either a single research project or a series of smaller projects, related to one or more of the four courses and demonstrating professional expertise.

More information about our courses as well as general information and guidelines for our students can be found in the Law Faculty Handbook. More information for prospective students can be found here.