5 Tips for Passing the Patent Bar Exam

Gene Quinn, of IPWatchdog and Practice Center Contributor, sent in this article wherein he provides five tips that should help you develop a personal strategy for tackling the Patent Bar Exam.

In order to become a patent attorney or patent agent and represent inventors or corporations before the United States Patent and Trademark Office you first need the proper scientific training and then you need to take and pass the Patent Bar Exam, sometimes referred to as the Patent Agents Exam or Patent Registration Exam.  The test, which is administered via computer, is an open book exam, but the Manual of Patent Examining Procedures (MPEP) is like no other book you have ever seen. It is sometimes random and haphazard, it is redundant, and it is exceptionally boring. Nevertheless, the MPEP can be your life line. The biggest mistake that anyone could make is that an open book exam is not terribly difficult. Open book exams are more difficult than closed book exams because the tester can ask more pointed and specific questions than could reasonably be asked in a closed book exam. Familiarity with the MPEP is essential to success.

Since March of 2000, I have been a principal lecturer in the PLI Patent Bar Review Course.  This means I have devoted a good portion of my professional life to working with students interested in passing the Patent Bar Exam. As a result, I have come up with a number of tips that should help you develop a personal strategy for tackling the Patent Exam.  Do remember though that any strategies you are going to employ should not be first unveiled on exam day.  Weave these and any other strategies you want to develop into your exam preparation for maximum success on exam day.

Click here to read the full IPWatchdog publication.

 

08.24.11 | Patent Bar Exam, PLI Patent Bar Review Course, posts | Stefanie Levine

Top 10 Reasons to Take the PLI Patent Bar Review Course

 

The following post was written by Gene Quinn , of IPWatchdog and Practice Center Contributor.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has updated the patent bar exam, sometimes referred to as the patent registration examination.  Effective April 12, 2011, the patent bar examination now tests MPEP 8th Edition Revision 8, as well as critically important guidelines, such as the KSR, Bilski and 112 guidelines, not yet a part of any edition of the MPEP.  See USPTO Updates Registration Examination.  I have been teaching the PLI Patent Bar Review Course for over 10 years now, and along with John White (the original course creator) participated in revising our materials, lectures and questions to bring the course up to date with the latest edition of the exam now being offered.  I continue to believe the PLI Patent Bar Review Course is the best course out there, and I have put together the following Top 10 reasons to take our Review Course.

1. PLI’s Patent Bar Review Course has been completely updated – overhauled really. We had already been working on updates to our materials based on the inevitable change in the exam moving from MPEP Rev. 4 to MPEP Rev. 8.  We knew it was only a matter of time before a new revision of the MPEP was tested, so we have had MPEP Rev. 8 materials at the ready.  The text and questions have been completely revised and our lectures re-done

2. We have spent considerable time and effort putting together new materials that specifically and directly cover the newly testable materials (i.e., KSR, Bilski and 112 guidelines) that are not a part of MPEP Rev. 8. We expect that these newly testable materials will be heavily tested on the new patent bar examination.

Click here for the full IPWatchdog article.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

04.20.11 | PLI Patent Bar Review Course, posts | Stefanie Levine

USPTO Updates Registration Exam for Patent Practitioners

The following post was written by Gene Quinn , of IPWatchdog and Practice Center Contributor.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will update its registration examination and provide new reference materials effective April 12, 2011. The changes will help ensure that newly registered patent attorneys and agents are fully qualified in the most current patent laws, rules and procedures.  This change marks the first change to the exam in approximately 5 years, and will bring the patent bar exam current with law, rules and regulations through the Winter of 2011. Those who are interested in taking the patent bar exam should consider this update a major revision, indeed such a major revision to the test that old patent bar exams circulating the Internet will be an insufficient means to study for the new exam.

“Patent applicants and examiners will benefit from the updated registration examination because newly registered patent attorneys and agents will have demonstrated familiarity with the most current patent laws, rules and procedures,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos.

All applicants wishing to practice in patent cases before the USPTO must pass the registration exam consisting of 100 multiple choice questions. The revised exam questions will be based on the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) Edition 8, Revision 8, along with other published USPTO policy and procedure reference materials. Administration of the previous version of the registration examination ceased April 4, 2011.

Click here for the full IPWatchdog article.

 

04.12.11 | Patent Bar Exam | Stefanie Levine

New Patent Bar is Coming: Get Prepared At Upcoming PLI Briefing

The Patent Office recently announced that there will be a major update of the material tested on the Patent Bar Exam in April. PLI has been preparing for this change for years already. In an one hour briefing scheduled for February 25, 2011, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm  (E.S.T.), John M. White, PLI’s Director of Patent Professional Development and chief lecturer of PLI’s Patent Bar Review, will share the critical information and strategies for taking the Patent Bar Exam.

Topics to be addressed include:

  • The new materials that will be tested on the Exam
  • PLI’s preparations to make sure that you’re up to speed with everything tested on the Exam
  • Strategies for taking the Exam into the foreseeable future

Mark your calendar and be sure to register for this free briefing!

**Please Note: CLE credit is not available for this program.

02.21.11 | Patent Bar Exam, posts | Stefanie Levine