intellectual property law - sqe or btc?

9

hello, sorry if this is a silly question but i've applied to study law and my plan is to go on to be an intellectual property lawyer in future. will i need to do a bar training course or the solicitors qualifying exam, or neither, for this specialisation? i'm a bit confused when i try to look it up.
i ask as the btc requires me to take certain modules at undergrad that i don't think are mandatory at my first choice uni.

Reply 1

chalks

14

Original post

by DH8

hello, sorry if this is a silly question but i've applied to study law and my plan is to go on to be an intellectual property lawyer in future. will i need to do a bar training course or the solicitors qualifying exam, or neither, for this specialisation? i'm a bit confused when i try to look it up.
i ask as the btc requires me to take certain modules at undergrad that i don't think are mandatory at my first choice uni.

There are both solicitors and barristers who specialise in IP, so it depends on which route you want to take into the profession. Generally speaking, some will focus on "hard" IP rights (i.e. patents) whereas others will focus on "soft" IP (i.e. trademarks, copyright etc). Some solicitors will work in the non-contentious arena, others on contentious IP.

Take a look at these firms and sets for an idea of who does what:

https://www.legal500.com/c/london/tmt-technology-media-and-telecoms/intellectual-property-patents-contentious-and-non-contentious
https://www.legal500.com/c/london/tmt-technology-media-and-telecoms/intellectual-property-trade-marks-copyright-and-design
https://www.legal500.com/c/london-bar/intellectual-property

Reply 2

UniofLawStudent1

Official Rep

6

Original post

by DH8

hello, sorry if this is a silly question but i've applied to study law and my plan is to go on to be an intellectual property lawyer in future. will i need to do a bar training course or the solicitors qualifying exam, or neither, for this specialisation? i'm a bit confused when i try to look it up.
i ask as the btc requires me to take certain modules at undergrad that i don't think are mandatory at my first choice uni.

Hello there!!

Congratulations on applying to study law!!

I hope it will be an exciting journey. I did my UG in law and then continued to pursue my PG in law at University of Law.

Your post was really interesting because I got an opportunity to study IP Law at University of Law as a part of my masters degree. My degree is an LLM (SQE 1 and 2). So, during my masters bit from May 2025 to September 2025, I got the opportunity to pick my chosen modules.

I always wanted to study IP Law. However, during my UG I could not choose it because it became unavailable during my course year. I was very excited when I got to learn it this summer.

I would advise looking into the options I outlined below for your reference, One of them would be the LLM (SQE 1 and 2) because they allow you to complete training for the SQE exams and then also pursue a masters after by choosing whatever courses you like where IP is one of the provided modules.

The professor for IP law is very inspiring and I know I really was worried about this module but then turned out to be very happy with how it was taught and assessed.

OPTIONS

BPC with IP

I am unsure about how the bar courses are offered with the masters but I would advise looking at this link when you have the time - https://www.law.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/law/bpc/

This link explains how at the end of the course, you may have an option to study additional modules. It would be worth checking it this is something you are interested in.

LLM (SQE) with IP

This is an option available for you once you have completed both SQE 1 and 2 internally. You will be able to pick a dissertation and some modules (or) just some modules. This is a great opportunity to study IP law if you wish to.

LLM with IP and Data Protection

This is an option to do a separate LLM with IP law if you do not wish to get into SQE or BPC. You can do this both online or in person, I have attached a link for you to look into this further:

https://www.law.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/law/llm-data-protection-and-intellectual-property/
https://www.law.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/law/llm-data-protection-and-intellectual-property/online/

I hope this helps you and gives you an insight into how the University of Law will allow you to navigate your interests.

All the best!!

Student
LLM (SQE 1 and 2)

intellectual property law - sqe or btc?

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