Founded in 1995, the Intellectual Property Law Concentration ("IP Law Concentration") was the first academic concentration established at Suffolk University Law School. Since its inception, Suffolk's IP Law Concentration, formerly the High Technology Law Concentration, has developed one of the most comprehensive programs in the country, giving students the opportunity to take advanced courses in each branch of intellectual property law: patent law, copyright law, trademark law and trade secrets. Suffolk's cutting edge program is built around a core of intellectual property law, supplemented by skills-based training. Participation in the IP Law Concentration provides students with a strong theoretical and practical foundation through which to develop long term career objectives, as well as intellectual interests.

A sincere interest in intellectual property is the only threshold requirement for entry into the IP Law Concentration. Anyone with the desire to explore the wide range of patent law, copyright law, trademark law, computer law, entertainment law, mass media law, software law, e-commerce law, Internet law and international intellectual property law is welcome and encouraged to enroll in the Concentration. The IP Law Concentration has an open admissions policy and there is no downside to enrollment. Calculations for graduation with a Concentration Certificate of Completion are only made at the conclusion of a concentrator's law school career, and no adverse notation will appear on a student's law school transcript if the student does meet the Concentration's course credit or grade point average thresholds. Even if you do not complete the IP Law Concentration with honors, you will greatly benefit from being enrolled in the Concentration. By enrolling in the IP Law Concentration, you will receive special invitations to attend Advanced Legal Studies courses, Intellectual Property Law Student Association events, and other networking opportunities. Enrolling in the Concentration may even give you a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Alumni from Suffolk's IP Law Concentration are found in leading law firms, companies, and government.

The IP Law Concentration is designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of students. For those who have an interest in qualifying for the patent bar, Suffolk provides advanced training in patent prosecution and office practice. And, while the field of patent prosecution is restricted to students who have a strong background in the sciences or engineering, careers in other fields of intellectual property law may be pursued by students with a non-scientific background.

Suffolk's ground-breaking IP Law Concentration curriculum offers an extensive array of courses germane to the intellectual property practitioner. One course considers the special problems of counseling patent clients, emphasizing ethical as well as legal and business concerns. Suffolk was one of the first law schools in the country to offer a course entitled Litigating Technology Disputes, which focuses on tactics and strategies relevant to serving the intellectual property client in the litigation setting. Suffolk was one of the first law schools in the country to offer a course in the licensing of intellectual property law. Suffolk is one of only a handful of law schools to offer a skills-based course in cyberlaw, as well as a more theoretically oriented course in Internet law. Courses on counseling the technology-leading enterprise and the law and practice of licensing are also featured.

The programmatic opportunities for concentrators with an interest in international practice are equally diverse and far-reaching. The Law School offers international business transactions courses that cover the global dimensions of software protection and trade issues affecting these new technologies. And, for those who wish to pursue international intellectual property practice even further, beyond the J.D., Suffolk offers an innovative, multi-disciplinary LL.M. program in Global Technology .

Students who elect to participate in the IP Law Concentration are also afforded the opportunity to put their course learning into practice. Prior concentrators have completed internships with numerous entities, including the Computer Crime Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, the Cisco Corporation, the BOSE Corporation and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Information Technology. New internship opportunities are being continuously developed for concentrators within both public and private sector settings. Concentrators are encouraged to pursue internships for both the immediate learning experience and the long term potential for future employment.

Further opportunities to enhance concentrators' interest in intellectual property law exist in related Law School organizations. The Intellectual Property Law Student Association sponsors frequent events and programs for those involved in the intellectual property area, while the Journal of High Technology Law serves as a vehicle for both concentrators and other Suffolk law students to pursue substantive and pioneering topics in intellectual property research and writing.

Suffolk holds a Summer Institute at the University of Lund in Sweden each year and several courses regularly offered in Lund qualify for the IP Law Concentration. During previous summers Suffolk has offered Concentration courses in international intellectual property, global Internet law and international business transactions. In addition, the Institute features visits to biotech firms, the Denmark Supreme Court in Copenhagen and the Appeals Court in Malmo, Sweden. The Summer Institute in Lund offers a three-week term, which affords Intellectual Property students a unique opportunity to take high-tech related courses along with students from Sweden, Germany and other United States law schools.

The IP Law Concentration allows students to develop substantial depth and breadth of knowledge in intellectual property and the information technologies. Students have the opportunity to design a program of study to follow