General information
The special focus of the course is on civil law and European law, which has a strong influence on the national regulations of IT and IP law.
In addition, introductory courses in IP and IT law are held in the first semesters. In the fifth and sixth semesters, students complete a study year at a foreign partner university, where they become familiar with the international aspects of IT and IP law, deepen their professional qualifications, and expand their soft skills in the area of language competence, which are indispensable for IT lawyers.
IT and IP law
The special feature of the Bachelor's program is the combination of the subjects Information Technology Law and Intellectual Property Law as independent fields of law. Both subjects have so many interdependencies and common interfaces that they can only be fully grasped in a parallel approach.
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IT Law
Information technology law (IT law for short) covers, among other things, the areas of electronic legal transactions, data protection, IT security and distance selling law. This relatively new and rapidly developing field always poses future-oriented questions that must be answered and regulated from a legal perspective. In addition, everyday questions of legal practice arise again and again, which the citizen hardly thinks about, such as:
- What rights do consumers have when doing business on eBay or Amazon?
- Which law applies in international eCommerce?
- Who is liable for links or Facebook posts?
- How far is the state allowed to monitor its citizens through so-called "federal Trojans"?
- How is personal data adequately protected on the Internet?
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IP Law
Intellectual property law (IP law for short; IP stands for intellectual property), on the other hand, deals with copyright, patent and trademark law and other industrial property rights. This field is also highly topical and faces fundamental questions, e.g. whether copyright law in this form is still appropriate for society. On the other hand, questions also arise here from legal practice, for example:
- What actions on the Internet constitute copyright infringement?
- Is there a right to private copying in copyright law?
- How are domain name disputes resolved internationally?
- Are there patents on human DNA sequences?
Many of these questions, which specialists have to deal with on a daily basis, cannot be answered by simply looking at the law or case law. Therefore, the lectures in the LL.B. are to a large extent characterized by the discussion of current cases and often lead to interesting discussions between students and lecturers, where creativity and ingenuity are just as much in demand as the interest in entering new legal territory together.
Double degree
The bachelor's degree in IT and IP law can be combined with other degree programs. A double study with the state examination in law is recommended especially because the bachelor study in IT and IP law and the study of law (state examination) are 85% the same.
Compared to the "classical law studies", students only have to spend a small amount of additional time and thus have the opportunity to take the First Law Examination (state examination) with a manageable additional effort. During the first four semesters, it is possible to have the classical legal subjects such as Civil Law, Public Law and Criminal Law also credited for the study of Law. In addition, dually enrolled students attend one additional lecture per semester that introduces them to IT and IP law. The oral examinations at the end of the year also deal for the most part with classical legal topics, so that students with dual enrollment have the opportunity to repeat and consolidate material relevant to the exam at an early stage.
The two semesters spent abroad as an LL.B. student count as a semester off for law school. After the year abroad, students then attend the concentration in IT and IP law together with other law students who also write their concentration thesis in this area. The Bachelor's thesis, which can also be counted as a focus paper for the First Jurisprudence Examination, is included as such in the grade for the First Jurisprudence Examination. As a result, dual enrolled students have the comfortable situation that they already have a degree in the form of the LL.B. before taking the First Jurisprudence Examination.
