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[Amanda Butler]

Hi,
I was hoping someone in this forum could give me some advice.  i currently have a BS in biology and will have an MS in nutrition sciences next spring.  I'm interested in learning more about becoming a patent agent.  With my background, would this be a good career option to pursue?  Also, how does one go about preparing for and taking the exam?
Thanks!
Amanda

[eric stasik]

Dear Ms Butler,

The USPTO's OED has all the details:

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/gcounsel/oed.htm

Regards,

Eric Stasik

[Steve O'Donnell]

There are places offering crash courses on how to pass the exam. It's an open book bubble test. I'd suggest picking up a "how to patent" book for basic background and then getting an MPEP and indexing it well so you can find things. There are old exams with answers/explanations available at uspto.gov (look for the office of enrollment and discipline). Take all the old exams you can find.

 Steve

[Amanda Butler]

Thank you both for the help!

[Isaac]

The strategy of indexing the MPEP so that you can find material during the exam will not work any longer.  You cannot bring your MPEP into the exam.  You will be given an electronic copy of the MPEP.   I don't know what search capabilities will be provided.

You cannot bring in any outlines, summaries, or any other material to the exam.

[Steve O'Donnell]

I didn't know that. It is a better way of administering the test since I'm sure quite a few people have brought in forbidden materials (prior questions), even if they were (innocently) buried in reference texts as examples. I hope there is at least a searchable index provided. I know when I took it there were a few questions that were meaningless minutia that no one would have committed to memory. On the other hand, the fewer people that pass the test, the less competition, so strike my wish for a searchable index.

 Steve

[Isaac]

Maybe the test will require a higher knowledge level to pass.

But even if it does, the plan is to offer the test very frequently, so that any increase in difficulty will probably be offset by the fact that the test can be taken multiple times in one year rather than the current twice per year.