New Patent Bar Online Exam - Prometric

[eslifer]

If you've taken practice exams and used the MPEP while taking them, you will be used to the search. 

[Aldo]

I would definitely get a study course for the patent bar exam - especially if you are not already working in patent prosecution (e.g. anotherEE above).

Use the course to guide what you study. 20% of the material in the MPEP will allow you to answer 80% of the questions on the patent bar.  Don't waste your time studying large amounts of material from which few questions will come. 

I used the Longacre patent bar review and loved it.  However, Longacre only gets you through the test - it is not a training course for how to prosecute patents.

Find all the practice tests you can, and take them repeatedly until you are scoring high on them (like 90%).  I was to the point in reviewing where I would read the question, and I remembered not only the answer, but which letter it was.  I saw quite a few of these questions again verbatim on the actual exam when I took it.

Having prepared this way, I looked up nothing on the exam on my first time through.  I first went through the whole test and answered every question I could.  If I was pretty sure, I guessed and moved on.  After I had completed a first pass through the test, then I went back and looked up answers to the questions I had skipped.  I believe I looked up 5 or less questions in each of the two tests.

If you plan to use the MPEP as part of your test taking strategy, I think that you will run out of time.  If you can search a document in Adobe Reader, you know enough to search the test MPEP.  Don't focus on looking things up in the MPEP, focus on being able to answer questions without the aids.

Last, I took the test once and passed in Fall '06.  I am not an attorney, and had no training or coursework in intellectual property law prior to taking the patent bar.     

[eslifer]

I highly disagree with that strategy.  There is no way you can know all the material well enough to expect to go through the exam without reference to the MPEP.  The more you can answer without it the better, but it is important to know how to search the MPEP.  That's why practicing exams using it is important, because it allows you to know exactly where to search 95% of the time you may need it.  Also, taking all of the prior exams 2 or 3 times under testing conditions not only gives you that experience in a time restricted situation, it gives you a small but significant number of questions that you will see on your real exam that are word for word the same, giving you what should be easy answers.  That also gives you more time for the questions that you may need to reference the MPEP.  Further, many, if not most, of the questions and answers are taken word for word from the MPEP, so if you learn how to search it quickly you can easily confirm answers that you think are probably correct.

[hilly_li]

Regarding a broadening claim reissue appl, an indication of broadening should be filed before 2 years period ends. And a certificate of mailing does not give the reissue application a filing date.

If the indication of broadening is filed together with the first reissue application which is filed with a certificate of mailing on or before the 2-year annavisery, and is received by the USPTO AFTER the 2-year deadline.

My question is: is the indication of broadening granted as timely?

Thank you.

[luis]

hi there,  just passed last Friday..  second try..  I was ill prepared the first time, I focused on MPEP and the PRG video lessons and only had time to do about 150 questions of the PRG ExamWare.  I did not know of this site and the "new reported questions" or the "repeat questions".  I had a 58% that time.
I remember the first test I took back in November was heavy on re-examination, appeal and PCT, something well documented in several forums but that I was unaware of.  I also remember the morning exam was extremely difficult compared to the afternoon one.   
This time around was different, both am/pm tests were about the same level, I don't think the test was heavy on any particular subject and I had only about 15 repeat questions (5-6 am and 8-9 pm).  I took the Apr/Nov03 tests about 4 times each, I could finish the 100 question of the test in 1:30 hrs usually missing only 1 or 2.  I also took the repeats from the previous tests (99-2002) 75 questions total, 4 times.   I had the PRG ExamWare software and I did all the PCT, Reissue, reexamination, appeal, restriction and interference questions (about 250 questions) twice.  I was scoring on the 90% the week before the test.
Reading this and posts on other sites was very useful to get "new" questions or at least an idea of what a questions was about but I had the feeling at reading at some posts that the exam was easy, you know the: "passed first try, only studied for 2 weeks", "all I did was to take the 2003 tests 3 times", etc, etc...  I tell you, these people are either not telling the truth or are in the 0.1% of the genius class that do not need to study.  the pass rate is 40% that means 6 out of 10 will NOT pass, so study until you think is overkill and then study some more.  I had to take it twice and I can tell you it is not something you want to do twice, if you registered to take the test you better make sure you pass it first try and that is only done by studying like there is no tomorrow for I will say at least 2 months.  make it 2 hours a day for the first months and then build it up until you can take 200 questions in a day two weeks before the test.

Now to the questions I saw in my test not reported above:
1) I had 3 questions on provisional filing where they try to confuse you with the cover sheet (first time I see something on cover sheets on an exam).  One question was what is needed to get a filing date (q1), the other was of the type: what is in accord with USPTO blah, blah except (q2) and the other one was something about a provisional filed without a cover sheet (q3).  Just remember: cover sheets are NOT needed to get a filing day (q1) but they ARE needed for a COMPLETE provisional filling (q2 said something like cover sheets are unnecessary for a complete provisional filling) and if the cover sheet is not attached to the provisional application then the application is treated as a non-provisional (q3). 
2) I had a tricky variation of Apr/01 AM #38 (not reported in the repeat question list) the question is about a small entity paying for the full filling fee and requesting a refund: 3 answers were easy to cross, something like a) cannot; b) you have 2 years; c) it was not a mistake so you will not get a refund;  then there was d) 3 months extendable with 37 CFR 1.136 and e) 3 months no extension.  answer is e, but please read the questions in Apr/01 #38AM.
3) I had a clever questions on a guy that filed a non-provisional application without a claim, what can he do to keep the filing date? you had choices like a) nothing b) file a claim via amendment and keep the original f/d c) file a claim via amendment and keep the new f/d; and then d) convert to a provisional and request refund of the excess fees or e) convert to provisional (no mention to refund).  the answer is e) but again read the MPEP.
4) who can sign a terminal disclaimer if applicant assigned 40% to corporation A and 40% to corporation B?  read the MPEP on assignments but if you are reading this 10 min before the test know that if the application has not assigned 100% of the rights to a single entity then it doesn't need to cosign or is allowed to sign, therefore only the inventor/applicant can sign.
5) I had question that tries to trick you with fact that certificate of mailing is allowed for OA replies but if you mail a notice of appeal the date accorded is the date it is received by the USPTO, the question was something like: you got a final OA with 3 month SSP on Jan/16 you mailed a reply to the final OA together with a notice of appeal with a certificate of mailing on the 16/april that was received in the USPTO on Monday the 19/April. today is Monday 21/Jul.  When, if any, is the appeal brief due w/out extension of time?  answers were of the kind:  a) application abandoned because reply to OA was late (19/Apr) b) Application abandoned because time to file appeal brief was 16/Jul; c)application is not abandoned but need to pay 1 month extension to file appeal brief; d) you can file appeal brief today without paying extension of time (this is the answer).
6) when is the fee not reduced for small entity: documents affecting the tittle.

[luis]

7) I had a questions on Protest: the protest was introduced in the USPTO after the application was published but it was served to the applicant before the publication.  will the examiner consider the protest or not?  I'm not 100% sure of the answer but I think the examiner will not enter the protest.

some tips that proved useful for me:
-many questions will try to confuse you with overcoming a 102 rejection with 103 arguments, for example: there is a 102(e) rejection and 3 of the answers are: argue commercial success or long felt need or extraordinary results.  these 103 arguments will never overcome a 102 rejection.
-Remember you can combine references for a 102 rejection if one of the references is used for establishing an inherent characteristic of a reference for example.  102 not always absolutely need to be one reference.
-Remember that to use 1.131 affidavit the reference patent can NOT claim the same claimed invention (if it does, then only way forward is interference if reference patent issued less than 1 year).  you will be able to reject some of the answers quickly is you see "reference disclosed and CLAIMED the same invention" then you know you cannot use 1.131 affidavit.
-Be careful, as stated by Heaven, when the question shows ONLY or MUST.  most of the times a fee is needed: ie: file ONLY an RCE (will not be correct as an RCE must be filed with the fee).
-I did a table 1-50 and A-E during the tutorial as some suggested and put down marking on it like the answer I selected (saved some time in the AM test when I checked if I had left any questions unanswered and found I had not clicked the answer in 2 questions, always check you click an answer even if your are clueless), answers that I knew were wrong so if I had to check the question again I didn't waste time rechecking it, I marked the question with a check (99% sure), a circle (80% sure but needed to check something), a question mark (for don't even know where or what to search in the MPEP) and asterisk (for questions I had narrowed down to 2 answers and I knew where I could get the correct answer quickly, the type of question you do not know if a fee is applicable or not).  I wrote key words next to the question number to save time. 
-I didn't bother learning 102(e) PCT reference dates but made sure I understood the diagram in 706.02(f).
-I kept a tally of questions I knew where 99% right, that helped me gauge how was I doing during the test. In the AM section I had 27 check marks and about 6 asterisks with an hour to spare so I didn't look at the other questions and focused on getting the asterisks to check marks.  I did the same in the PM I had 30 check marks and 4 asterisks.   10 minutes after the test ended I had 63 check marks and smile in my face. 

good luck.  if I remember anything else I will post it.

[chrissyneedstopass]

Hi, I am a newbie and I just took the exam today.  I failed with a 47%.  I feel bad, but I have the flu and I'm just starting to get better today and had to take a pretty big break during the second half.  I will give my impressions.

1) The resolution on the screen is HORRIBLE, not bad for a 1 or 2 hour exam, but for 6 hours
2) The place was nice, but my proctor was NOSY.  You'd think she never had some one come in and take an exam before.  She also announced to the waiting room that I was taking the patent exam, I should have complained.
3) The test just jumps ON so quickly, there is no page of instructions, just a tutorial beforehand, so know that when you say you are done with the tutorial, you are on Question 1.
4) My exam tested every part of the MPEP that I never bothered reading, including Protest, Interference, Assignment, and Inter Partes proceedings.  I thought most questions would come from 700 or 2100 and that was not the case for me.  And the 2100 questions I did have were HARD.  I have read KSR, and maybe I am confused or have hit a plateau on my understanding of obviousness, but the 103 questions I had I felt were not straightforward and I had a hard time applying what I know about the law to my fact patterns.  I had over 5 questions on Assignment, mostly concerning signing authority, and 2 questions on Protest.
5) Definitely master PCT chapter.
6) I had a LOL question, where the second answer choice was essentially that the practioner should lie to his client and cover his tracks!  I got kinda squirmy, but didn't laugh because I didn't want to disturb the other testers.  That made my day.

What I need to do next time, is get more comfortable answering questions about dates.  I can't "see" months and years written out long hand, like March 16, 2005.  If you write February 19, 2006, it doesn't jump out at me that this is 11 months after the first date, I am confused because February goes before March in my head.  Yes, it is weird, it probably has to do with my brain wiring.  I need to see 3/16/05 and 2/19/06 Go figure.  I give up easily on those questions.  Eventually I started writing out the dates on a timeline on my scratch paper, which is what I will probably do to solve the questions in the future.  If anyone else has this problem, I am open to any tricks you know.

I will definitely be spending time doing practice questions, I was able to navigate the MPEP pretty well, but lost points looking up every question.  I should have been able to get plenty of points with known repeats but I did not take advantage of the knowledge on this site.  I have 30 days, I will figure out a way to add points to my score!

[E55AMG]

Hello Fellow Forum Members!

I took the exam a few days ago and passed on my first try.  It would NOT have happened were it not for this forum, mypatentbar, and patentbarquestions!

My personal history as far as studying for the Patent Bar is as follows:

August 2008, Purchased the PLI Review Course.  I spent about 5 days going through the "PreCourse," Followed by the first 3 of 8 lecture DVDs.  Life events got in the way and I didn't begin studying again until late October.  A few days after restarting Lecture DVDs in October, a close family member passed away which threw me and all my loved ones for a loop.  I put the studying on the back burner again until January.  In January I began the entire PLI course from the beginning.  I would do about 3 hours of lecture per day, which I finally completed at the beginning of February.  It was at this time that I began doing the Post-Course PLI material (quizzes, more questions.)  Then, my mother suffered a serious injury which necessitated my taking over a significant amount of responsibilities w/r/t my younger siblings.  My schedule was such that I could never find more than an hour or two of uninterrupted study.  I was quite dismayed at this time because when I began doing the full-length practice tests (3 Hour blocks, but of course I was doing them in several smaller chunks because that was all the time I could find) I was only scoring approximately 60 percent overall.  I hadn't been using the MPEP though...not really.  I might look up a question or two, but somehow I didn't realize just how essential it was going to be.  I found this forum and read through many many pages of this particular thread.  I took the advice of several forum members and downloaded Adobe Acrobat 5.0 so that I would become familiar with the exact "find" capabilities of the Prometric software.  I went through  the October 2002, April 2003, and October 2003 past exams.  I used the searchable MPEP more and more as I went through the tests.  When I took the last full-length test for the first time, I scored exactly 80 percent.  With that in mind--and the fact that everyone on this forum has repeatedly said there could be 10-40 questions repeated from past exams, I was ready to go.  For three days before the test I read over each of the above-mentioned exams, made sure I knew why each correct answer was correct (and each wrong answer was wrong.)  Also, I went through every one of the posted "newly reported" questions and looked up the answers to those I had missed.  I was actually reviewing up until 11PM the night before my exam.

The testing center:  

I was pleasantly surprised with the testing environment.  Headphones drowned out those around me.  The screen was a 17-inch CRT.  The MPEP font was very small as reported numerous times here.  The computer was speedy enough.  The "find" function seemed to work exactly as that of
Adobe Acrobat 5.  

[E55AMG]

The exam itself:  There were approximately 15 repeat questions on my exam.  Remember, however, that I had only reviewed the October 2002, April 2003, and October 2003 exams, so it is possible that several more questions I faced were from older exams.  The first half of the test had only 1 or 2 PCT questions.  The second half had about 6-8 PCT questions.  I found that I wound up really only searching a handful of sections of the MPEP during the exam, specifically 700 and 2100 (about 75 percent of my searches) then 600, 1200, 200.  That was really about it!   My strategy was to answer each question as I went.  I spent a maximum of 5 minutes on any question, that time including reading the question and searching the MPEP for the answer if not immediately known.  I chose 5 minutes as my maximum because about every 5th or 6th question I had a repeat from a past exam, and that would give me about 2.5 minutes back per question.   Using this approach I finished the first half of the exam with about 5 minutes left, and the second half I had two questions left unanswered with only 3 minutes left (these were not the last two questions, just two from earlier where I had NO clue what the answer was, so I hadn't even preliminarily marked anything).  I basically got overwhelmed at that time and just chose any answer for each question.  Time ran out and I hit the "End" or "Submit" button that had popped up. 

     I thought the results were going to come up right then, and my heart started POUNDING.  I do cardio daily, and my heartrate never comes close to what was happening as I sat there.  However, a survey about the testing center popped up instead!  I answered the questions as my heart continued to pound.  I hit submit and the computer starting churning.  The hard drive was spinning and spinning and spinning.  I don't know how long this went on for, but it felt like FOREVER.  Something popped up on the screen, but I honestly couldn't figure out what it said.  I saw my name.  I saw my registration number.  I kept looking around and then I saw the "Preliminary Results indicate that you have passed..."   Relief ensued.  I closed my eyes for a few seconds and just smiled to myself.  Gathered my things, got my print-out, went to the car and texted everyone I knew!  I honestly felt more proud passing this exam than I did when I passed my State's Bar Exam.  I had only taken a survey IP course in law school, and a Trademark seminar prior to this, so I think having learned all the material on my own (and having gone through losses and setbacks over the course of my studying) made this accomplishment more personally fulfilling.  Anyways...

In Summary:   +Download Adobe Acrobat 5.  Use its "find" feature exclusively to search the MPEP. 
                    +Become intimately familiar with the MPEP, that is, know the categories of material that can be found in each section. 
                    +Don't even think about taking the exam without having gone through the  old October 2002, April 2003, and October 2003 exams. 
                    +Use the 15-minute "Tutorial" before the 1st half of the test to make the "Question 1-50, Answer A-E" Table as suggested by others
                      on this forum.  It will really help you.  Come back from your break a few minutes early to make the table again for the second half.
                    +Take the "optional" 1-Hour break between sections.  Eat something.  Look over the October 2003 exam again in your car, or
                      wherever you can.                   
                    +The extra time you will create for yourself on test day by recognizing the repeats will benefit you IMMENSELY. 
                    +Try to stay calm.  Remember all of the things you have accomplished in the past, and know that you can succeed again here.
                   
 
An enormous heart-felt thank you to those who have posted here in the past, and an equally grand and sincere wish of good luck to all those who have yet to take the exam!                      

[seas]

5) I had question that tries to trick you with fact that certificate of mailing is allowed for OA replies but if you mail a notice of appeal the date accorded is the date it is received by the USPTO, the question was something like: you got a final OA with 3 month SSP on Jan/16 you mailed a reply to the final OA together with a notice of appeal with a certificate of mailing on the 16/april that was received in the USPTO on Monday the 19/April. today is Monday 21/Jul.  When, if any, is the appeal brief due w/out extension of time?  answers were of the kind:  a) application abandoned because reply to OA was late (19/Apr) b) Application abandoned because time to file appeal brief was 16/Jul; c)application is not abandoned but need to pay 1 month extension to file appeal brief; d) you can file appeal brief today without paying extension of time (this is the answer).

I'm not quite understanding why D is the answer...I know that you have 2 mos. from date USPTO receives the notice of appeal to file appeal brief w/o an extension, but according to the dates here, the 2 mo. deadline would be June 19. Submitting the brief on Monday July 21 would result in 1 mo extension...right?

I've looked it up in the MPEP and I couldn't find an answer I'm comfortable with. The only thing I found was that MPEP 1205.01 said that 37 CFR 41.37(a) "does not permit the [appeal] brief to be filed within the time allowed for reply to the action from which the appeal was taken even if such time is later."

Of course, all of this assumes that the poster of this question correctly remembered the facts of the question when posting...

[pamela]

Hi,

 I thought the results were going to come up right then, and my heart started POUNDING.  I do cardio daily, and my heartrate never comes close to what was happening as I sat there.  However, a survey about the testing center popped up instead!  I answered the questions as my heart continued to pound.  I hit submit and the computer starting churning.

Thanks.

[SlickerB]

Just took the exam earlier this week and passed on my first try.  Many thanks to all the helpful people on this Board and the posters at patentbarquestions. 

Morning session felt much harder than the afternoon.  Afternoon session is where I saw most of the repeats: hairgel, moon dust, tribell, door with pulling means (perhaps slightly different than old test question because examiner notes in rejection that structure of a knob recited in specification is anticipated by the prior reference), mirror properties, and claim counting (147).  To echo comments of other posters – there seemed to be a lot of questions geared towards appeals.

Prepared using the PRG course which I found superior to the BarBri course.  However, the BarBri course I had was from 2003 (signed up to take the test back in the day, but never got around to it) and it was geared to the paper exam.  I used a brute force method to prepare for the exam - I did practice problems from old exams until I couldn't take it anymore.  I think I ended up completing approximately 1700 of the old exam questions using the ExamWare software that came with the PRG course.  I bought the PRG course in August last year, and started serious studying in January of this year - spent approximately 2 hours doing practice problems every weekday night (working full time) and 6 hours a day on the weekend.  Took a week of vacation two weeks prior to exam day and spent 10 hours a day doing as many timed practice exams as possible.  The week before the exam I tried to complete at least one 50 question timed exam every night and study for at least 3 hours in one uninterrupted block.  I also think its vital to become very comfortable using the MPEP to look up answers.  At first it was very cumbersome from me, but by the end I was starting to remember exactly what section of the MPEP to go to in order to answer a question.  Might have studied too much for the exam, but I really only wanted to take it once. 

Regarding preparation for the examination – I think it’s possible to prepare for the exam without having to shell out the big bucks for a review course using this site, patentbarquestions.com, and freepatentbar.com (or some other computer based practice program).  IMO: the only benefit to a review course is that it gives you a foundation/overview of patent examining procedure.  Without the overview, the language of the prior exam questions can be difficult to decipher.  I found that doing practice problems was the most effective way to prepare.  It was difficult for me to simply memorize the information, I had to actually “work with it.”  I guess it’s a bit like calculus or physics – reading about formulas and theories in the abstract is useless, I need to actually plug some numbers in and work with them in order to understand.  The real benefit to the PRG course was the ExamWare software.  It creates random exams and gives a breakdown of the percent right and wrong in each subject area. It also allows you to create custom exams and do practice problems focused on a particular subject (e.g. only questions dealing with PCT).  I questions in ExamWare are verbatim copies of old exam questions – the answers have been updated to reflect changes in the MPEP.  I did a few practice tests using freepatenbar.com and I found it to be very similar to PRG’s ExamWare.  Freepatentbar.com will create random exams (keeps you from relying solely on memorization), but I’m not sure if it allows you to focus on specific subject areas. 

Regarding the Prometric test center – all the computers were fast and had 19inch LCD screens.  No earplugs available, just the greasy earmuffs which didn’t do that great of a job in blocking out noise. One important thing to note: based on recommendations on this board I made a grid using the scrap/note paper that testers are given (very helpful and highly recommended).  In the morning session I made the grid during the orientation part of the exam.  I came back from lunch 15 minutes early and tried to make the grid before I started the afternoon session.  The proctor came in, yelled at me, and told me I wasn’t allowed to make the grid without starting the afternoon session first.  Is that official Prometric policy? I was under the impression that making the grid prior to starting the actual exam was ok, as long as the 7 hour clock was ticking.  He also wouldn’t let me have a new scrap paper booklet unless the old one was completely used up.  Also the search function of Adobe reader was a bit funky - it wouldn't let me select text in the MPEP to start a search from - it always started searching from the beginning of a section. 

In summary: the trick to passing this thing is to do practice questions “till it hurts” and then do some more.  Good luck to everyone. 

[smgsmc]

Any1 else take the new patent bar exam.  I took it today and it seemed *much* more difficult than the previous exams.  I only missed 5 questions on the oct 2003 exam w/o using the MPEP...I think I would be lucky to pass this new exam....it was heavily focused on obscure PCT facts, had some strictly biotech questions regarding sequence listings that I though was off-limits, and completely missed the traditional core concepts....not many repeats and quite of few question seemed to be poorly written....

The searchable MPEP seemed to freeze while keyword searching, making it near impossible to locate the answers to the obscure questions in the MPEP in the time allotted...

I'm hoping I just got a hard version of the exam....any1 else take it yet?  Supposedly I will find out if I passed in 2 weeks....
_______________
floatingtank
apartments in Austin

Why didn't you get the results at the end of the exam?  You should have known right away whether you passed or failed.

[mccoykn]

New User Study Gameplan


I am attempting to create a gameplan for studying for the Patent Bar Exam. Maybe with everyone's help, we can modify it to create a general outline for newcomers to have a quick resource rather than having to read through over 160 pages of thread.

So feel free to repost the plan with updates from your experience which will help others pass the exam. 

Please excuse me if there are errors or anything left out of my list. I have not yet begun studying for the exam and this will be as much help to me as it will other new users.

Steps:

1.Get a general understanding of the MPEP and patent prosecution field. A review course (PLI, PRG...) or previous experience in the field should suffice.

2.Get familiar with the MPEP especially sections 700, 1200, 1400, 1800, 2100, 2200.

3.Get used to searching the MPEP. This is a link to the uspto searchable version of the MPEP
Download the pdf file at the bottom of the screen and Adobe 5 seems to be the search tool which resembles the prometric software the best.

4.Take practice tests. The most relevant seem to be October 2002, April 2003, and October 2003. Attempt to memorize all the questions and answers, knowing why each answer is right or wrong. Link

5.For additional questions that may be on your exam, see this link

6.Take the prometric exam tutorial. Link
7.Take the exam. Registration information can be found here:

8.When the exam is over you will have to fill out a prometric survey about the testing center and then if you passed, the next screen will inform you of your unofficial success.

9.The exam's pass rate is historically below 50%. Study hard and ensure you are ready before taking the exam.


Things I would like to add... please give feedback.

Approximate Study Time: I am plannin on allotting approximately 200 hours?

Section on the table method during the tutorial portion of the exam?

Section on the advantages and disadvantages to each review course?

Thank you for your help!

[mccoykn]

I had one other question. After applying to the USPTO to take the patent bar exam, how long does it take to get your registration number so you can register for a test date with prometric? (assuming Category A with a mechanical engineering degree and a standard application)

Thanks!