Intellectual Property Law

Types of Degrees Intellectual Property Law Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many intellectual property law graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	91
Graduate Certificate	14

What Intellectual Property Law Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, intellectual property law majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Intellectual Property Law Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in intellectual property law should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills for Intellectual Property Law Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to intellectual property law:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Intellectual Property Law Majors

Intellectual Property Law majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Intellectual Property Law Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with intellectual property law:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Law Professors	12.3%	$111,140
Lawyers	8.2%	$120,910

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Intellectual Property Law

Some careers associated with intellectual property law require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for intellectual property law careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	0.5%
Master’s Degree	7.2%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.0%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	57.0%
Doctoral Degree	32.6%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.7%

Online Intellectual Property Law Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	5	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	17	4
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Intellectual Property Law

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to intellectual property law.

Major	Number of Grads
General Advanced Legal Research/Studies	4,165
Programs for Foreign Lawyers	1,720
Other Legal Research & Advanced Professional Studies	1,213
American/U.S. Law/Legal Studies/Jurisprudence	933
Tax Law/Taxation	789
Health Law	537
International Law & Legal Studies	460
Banking, Corporate, Finance, & Securities Law	436
International Business, Trade, & Tax Law	273
Energy, Environment, & Natural Resources Law	238
Arts and Entertainment Law	87
Human Resources Law	46
Comparative Law	42
Tribal/Indigenous Law	41
Criminal Law and Procedure	35
Real Estate and Land Development Law	9
Compliance Law	9
Agriculture Law	3
Patent Law	0

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.