Study Guidelines

At the University of Bern, the courses offered at the Master's level in the fields of intellectual property and competition law are subdivided into introductory courses and advanced courses. Students who wish to specialize in these fields should follow this structure when choosing which courses to take. Other courses offered by CLIC at the Master's level (in other fields of law) are stand-alone courses that can be taken at any point in time.

Introductory Courses at the Master's Level

The introductory courses at the Master's level are (1) Intellectual Property (10 ECTS, fall semester) and (2) Competition Law (5 ECTS, spring semester). Both courses are taught by Prof. Dr. Cyrill P. Rigamonti.

Advanced Courses at the Master's Level

Advanced courses at the Master's level are (1) "International Intellectual Property Law" (5 ECTS, fall semester) in the field of intellectual property law and (2) "The Practice of the Antitrust Authorities" (5 ECTS, fall semester) in the field of competition law. Completion of the introductory course on Competition Law is a required precondition for taking "The Practice of the Antitrust Authorities" course. In contrast, the course "International Intellectual Property Law" can be taken simultaneously with the introductory course on Intellectual Property.

Other Courses at the Master's Level

In addition to the courses mentioned above, the Center for the Law of Innovation and Competition (CLIC) offers Master's courses in Private Media Law (5 ECTS, spring semester), IT Law (5 ECTS, spring semester), and European Data Protection Law (5 ECTS, fall semester), which may be taken at the same time as the courses mentioned above. The same is true for the various seminars in intellectual property and competition law that are offered by the Center.

Oxford IP Moot

Students who are interested in taking the Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot course, should have taken or should be taking at least one course in intellectual property law in addition to the moot course, that is, either "Immaterialgüterrecht" or "International Intellectual Property Law".