IP - Joint Masters/LL.M.: Written Test Pattern
The IP Joint Masters/LL.M. written test assesses both doctrine and the international framework of intellectual property. Expect copyright, patents, trademarks, designs, geographical indications, plant varieties, trade secrets, and the Paris/Berne/TRIPS architecture. Questions often ask you to apply a statutory test to facts rather than recite definitions.
Core rules and concepts
- Copyright: protection attaches to expression, not ideas; originality and substantial similarity matter; fair dealing is a limited exception.
- Patents: novelty, inventive step, industrial application, and patentable subject matter; prior art is assessed before the filing/priority date.
- Trademarks: distinctiveness, deceptive similarity, and passing off; registration is not the only route to protection.
- International law: national treatment, priority, minimum standards under TRIPS, and the territorial nature of IP rights.
Worked example
A researcher publishes a complete description of a device in a journal in January and files a patent application in July. Is the invention novel? Reasoning: The January publication is prior art because it made the invention available to the public before the filing date. Novelty is destroyed unless a specific grace-period exception applies. The answer should identify the publication, the relevant date, and the statutory exception-not merely state that “publication is bad.”
Traps that cost marks
Confusing novelty with inventive step; saying copyright protects an idea; treating trademark registration as conclusive; ignoring territoriality; forgetting that a patent claim is assessed as a whole, not by individual features alone.