Intellectual Property Law and Practice (Taught)

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2025). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas.

The Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Intellectual Property Law and Practice is a one-year, part-time vocational course for those embarking on a career in intellectual property (IP) law and practice.

The PGDip is taught by senior practitioners and academics, and is designed to provide a grounding in the fundamentals of IP law and practice.

You will attend a two-week residential programme held in September at one of Oxford's colleges and a series of weekend workshops held from October to June in London law firms. Teaching is provided by a mix of practising and academic lawyers and covers the full range of IP subjects, including patents, trade marks, unfair competition and passing off, trade secrets, designs, copyright and moral rights as well as key aspects of litigious and non-litigious IP practice and procedure.

The residential programme is taught by means of a series of lectures delivered in close succession which contextualise the various course elements and make conceptual links between them, and also deal with the more theoretical elements of the course. The workshop sessions involve interactive seminars in which you will be taught in small groups by experienced IP practitioners, and will help you build on the theoretical grounding gained from the residential programme. You will be responsible for your own academic progress. What this will mean in practical terms will vary significantly from one week to the next given the fact that the great majority of students taking the diploma are doing so while continuing to meet important professional commitments.

During the academic year you will be advised to divide your time as follows:

• At least four hours in preparation for each workshop, 1-/1.5 hours watching the online lecture and the remainder of the time familiarising yourself with the pre-workshop readings.

• Eight hours per workshop

• Ten to sixteen hours of work for each assignment