Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[hermit]

I'm currently studying for the patent bar exam using the most recent ('04) PRG course with the videos.  Anyone taken the new computerized exam who studied using this course?  Did you feel adequately prepared?  Any areas of study you'd recommend that were not sufficiently emphasized in the PRG course?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[anna]

I took the computerized exam after studying with the PRG course. I think that the course was good in providing a framework for understanding patent law but that it is also important that you know where to look up things in the MPEP. A lot of my questions on the exam required knowledge of details with most of those answers found word for word in the MPEP. I therefore advise you to also familiarize yourself with the MPEP. Good luck!

[hridayabhiranjan]

Anna,

How hard is "look up" in electronic version of MPEP. I have never used electronic version.

Thanks,

Shuka

[anna]

It's not that difficult to look up on the MPEP computerized version. However I advise you to get the MPEP on CD so you can practice at home. PRG provided registered course-takers with the MPEP on CD. I assume they will continue to provide new course-takers with this CD but check with them. (I don't know if the other courses also provide the MPEP on CD).

[Shelley Cobos]

Isn't the Prometrics MPEP more user friendly? I find the PRG MPEP a pain to use because it only labels the sections as "part this or that". Did you find yourself using Appendix R at all? Stuff is scattered all over the place in the MPEP.

[hermit]

hermit again.  In answer to my own question:

I used Kayton's PRG exclusively, and found it very useful, but I would recommend other Kayton users to stress use of the computer simulated exams with looking stuff up via the MPEP index, and destress reading the written materials.  The 6 volume Kayton treatise appears to be an excellent work for patent practitioners, with a lot of extraneous information dealing with case history and litigation that is simply not necessary for any non-current practitioners preparing for the exam.

Good luck!

[Gordon Morrison]

I took the exam in St Joseph MO on October 4th.  I was not allowed to take any thing into the exam room with me.  They provided scratch paper and pencils.  Every session is video taped, so I was warned not to reach into my pockets for anything that could be questioned as cheating.  I laid out my candy next to me, I was allowed to set my water bottle just outside the door and when I needed a drink reach around the door for my water.

I signed in at about 7:30 AM and the tutorial took about five minutes.  I started the exam immediately and it took a little over two hours.  Most of the material was new to me, six to eight of the questions we discussed in class or I had read in my studies.  Two or three of the questions I believe did not have right answers.  About twenty of the questions were on the law as it applies directly and the rest was on the minutia of patent practice.  There were probably eight questions that were of the tricky type.  The technology worked very well, I was able to mark questions and go back and review my analysis.  

My studies consisted of my experience in my own patents, the PRG classes, all of the PRG volumes of patent practice, plus a few hundred questions, and PRG's software.  I would look up material in Title 37 and the MPEP as I was studying.  I found the vast majority of the exam to be of interest to a senior level examiner, not a test of the knowledge of a person entering the field.  I was disappointed in the exam for a lack of enablement.

Overall I cannot say that I missed more than thirty but I also cannot say that I got more than seventy right.

[E. Alpert]

I am interested in selling at least part of the 2004 PRG video course. If someone in the New York city area is interested in buying and picking up the purchase from my home in Brooklyn, please contact me offline at e2alpert@aol.com

[Emilie Alpert]

I have listed the Kayton PRG CD-ROM on ebay. The listing number is 4514859444.  If anyone has any questions, you can also contact me at e2alpert@aol.com

[Emilie Alpert]

I have also separately listed the videos from the PRG 2004 course on ebay. That listing nubmer is 4514976382

[Chad Hardaway]

I am looking for a used set of PRG materials (books and the videos) for my preparation for the patent bar.   I am a law student and am on a tight budget.  Any price less than $2695 would be great.  You can contact me at clhardaway@hotmail.com.

[melwrc]

It's funny how every overpriced course advertises about providing an MPEP on CD.  It's available broken up into 3 sections on the USPTO website.  Or if you prefer, you can download the entire MPEP (rev1 or 2) from www.upstartraising.com.  They also have a link to Adobe 5.0, which looks more like the Prometric version.
The key is to do practice tests in a simulated environment.  This will build your familiarity of the layout of the MPEP.  The repeat ?'s from the old test will save enough time for you to do the searching for answers to the new questions during the patent bar.  
For searches, get to the right chapter, which you should already know before taking the patent bar.  Then do a search using words and phrases from the question and the answers.  

I used the PLI course (supposedly one of the better ones) at first because I was nervous about the hyped exam, but realized that it wasn't helping me learn the MPEP.  Now I feel like it was a glorious waste of the firm's money.  My studying that was productive consisted of the prime questions and the last 3 exams taken on PatWare(which has a bad habit of telling you that you missed a question, then explaining why you got it right).  Then I went over each exam with a focus on questions I missed and questions that I got right but wasn't certain of the answer at the time.  I later found out that a simulator (exact copy of prometric screen) is already available online for $30 to take 9 tests.  I don't suggest ever randomizing exams.  Just do them in chronological order starting as far back as you think you'll need, and making sure that you take the 3 most recent ones because that is where many of the questions are pulled from.  I saw about 20 repeats from the October 2003 exam alone (see other thread that I started).  They seem to be phasing out the pre- November 29, 2000 questions as most of those cases have progressed far enough in the process.

Those of you trying to sell off used copies of the home courses might be mad at me, but it's the truth.

[Rich]

Okay, so I feel a bit stupid posting this after that last ringing endorsement of patent bar review courses, but if anyone out there is interested in getting the 2004 PRG video course materials for the patent bar, I am now selling a used set of the materials on ebay.  The listing number is: 6950534183

I agree that the review courses are all way overpriced, but hey, you can save a lot of money if you buy a used set from me!

[Gomo]

To those shopping for a bar review course, I listed my PRG video course on eBay today.  The listing number is:

6951801685