In-depth specialisation in IP law – Sophie Prudent and Dr Benedikt Walesch aquire Master of Laws (LL.M.) qualifications

Our colleagues, Sophie Prudent and Dr Benedikt Walesch, have successfully completed the part-time Master’s programme in Intellectual Property Law at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf. They celebrated their diplomas with excellent grades last Friday, 24 June 2023, at Mickeln Castle.

The programme is particularly practice-oriented. “It was very enriching that we were able to pick up helpful tips from experienced practitioners in the lectures and deepen our knowledge in intellectual property law. We made a conscious decision to do the extra-occupational course at Heinrich Heine University in order to remain accessible to our clients and to be able to put what we have learned directly into practice. With this extensive further training, this naturally requires very good time management,” report Sophie Prudent and Benedikt Walesch in unison. “We can highly recommend this programme to anyone who wants to deepen their specialist knowledge in IP.

With her master’s thesis, Sophie Prudent focused on national injunction proceedings in patent law. “German case law has always been a controversial subject. The ECJ decision Phoenix Contact/Harting also met with controversy. I found it exciting to deal with the different justification approaches and the possible effects of the ECJ judgment on case law,” says Sophie Prudent. Her work was given the top mark of “outstanding”.

In his Master’s thesis, Dr Benedikt Walesch delved deeper into the UPC court system and  dealt with the “interim measures before the UPC” and compared them with the national procedural rules. “I find it exciting to be at the forefront of the emergence of a new court system. That’s why I wanted to delve deeper into the regulations of the new system in my Master’s thesis and compare the new regulatory approaches with national law.” He also received the highest grade of “outstanding” for his Master’s thesis.

We are very delighted that our colleague Dr. Benedikt Walesch was able to complete the Master’s programme as best student of the year with the highest grade of “outstanding”. For this excellent achievement he was awarded the prize for the best degree. 

We congratulate our colleagues Sophie Prudent and Dr Benedikt Walesch sincerely. You are now holding the internationally recognised and renowned “Master of Laws” (LL.M.) degree.