Passed Oct 2014 Patent Bar!! 1st time taker, Offering Advice

[markwebb85]

Passed on my first try and had about an hour left to check answers in each section.

Studied using the PLI Patent Bar Review Home Study Course.

I learned so much from lurking forums like this one so I'm back to pay it forward. Here are a couple of takeaways from my experience:

- The new AIA MUCH EASIER, knowing when to apply it is HARD. The Patent Bar I believe strategically makes their questions ambiguous about when to apply the new AIA on an application, in fact, they themselves need help deciding on certain applications, this is relevant by the fact that they ask you to submit a transition statement if elements of the old and new law apply for such applications.

- Plenty of repeats from old exams, but NOT ENOUGH to depend on. I believe if you are borderline passing without knowledge of the old exams, then it will get you over the hump, otherwise, don't depend on it. I memorized 180-190 questions from old exams and I saw about 8-10 of those questions. Furthermore, quite a few of them changed the dates so that the new AIA applied. Without reading carefully, I would have chosen the wrong answer.

- Don't depend on being able to spot out the throw away questions, I was sort of hoping the throw away questions would be so ridiculous that I knew they weren't going to be counted. This simply was not the case in my experience.

-Lastly - YOU MUST GIVE YOURSELF TIME FOR LOOK UPS!! With all of the studying I did (about 200 hours), some of the questions were impossible to know without giving myself appropriate time for lookups. I ended up changing approximately 8-10 questions each section during lookup. And I only changed a question i knew to be 100% correct, that it is saw the answer almost verbatim in the MPEP. This means I got 15-20% higher than if I had simply went with my first guess.

If there's anything else you'd like to know, Ask away! 

[MYK]

What is the average airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

[markwebb85]

African or European? 

[Dazed-n-confused]

Dear Braggadocious Bridgekeeper, what are the units of airspeed*velocity?

ETA:
P.S. Congratulations!

[MYK]

African or European? 

Huh?  I ... I don't know that!  Auuuuuuuugh!!!!

BTW, just reread your initial post.  Congratulations, and good job, that's the way to do it.

[markwebb85]

African or European? 

Huh?  I ... I don't know that!  Auuuuuuuugh!!!!

BTW, just reread your initial post.  Congratulations, and good job, that's the way to do it.

Thanks! I realized my initial post was a bit lazy in the details so I modified it a bit for fellow passer bys.

[NYSea]

Passed on my first try and had about an hour left to check answers in each section.

Studied using the PLI Patent Bar Review Home Study Course.

I learned so much from lurking forums like this one so I'm back to pay it forward. Here are a couple of takeaways from my experience:

- The new AIA MUCH EASIER, knowing when to apply it is HARD. The Patent Bar I believe strategically makes their questions ambiguous about when to apply the new AIA on an application, in fact, they themselves need help deciding on certain applications, this is relevant by the fact that they ask you to submit a transition statement if elements of the old and new law apply for such applications.

- Plenty of repeats from old exams, but NOT ENOUGH to depend on. I believe if you are borderline passing without knowledge of the old exams, then it will get you over the hump, otherwise, don't depend on it. I memorized 180-190 questions from old exams and I saw about 8-10 of those questions. Furthermore, quite a few of them changed the dates so that the new AIA applied. Without reading carefully, I would have chosen the wrong answer.

- Don't depend on being able to spot out the throw away questions, I was sort of hoping the throw away questions would be so ridiculous that I knew they weren't going to be counted. This simply was not the case in my experience.

-Lastly - YOU MUST GIVE YOURSELF TIME FOR LOOK UPS!! With all of the studying I did (about 200 hours), some of the questions were impossible to know without giving myself appropriate time for lookups. I ended up changing approximately 8-10 questions each section during lookup. And I only changed a question i knew to be 100% correct, that it is saw the answer almost verbatim in the MPEP. This means I got 15-20% higher than if I had simply went with my first guess.

If there's anything else you'd like to know, Ask away! 

Sorry to revive an old thread... Taking my exam on the 25th. When you say there were 8-10 repeats, you mean from the 2002 and 2003 exams, right? Also, what would you say is the best test taking strategy? Try to do a run-through of the questions without searching, and then search for the ones you aren't sure about after?

Hoping to be one and done, like you!

[markwebb85]

Passed on my first try and had about an hour left to check answers in each section.

Studied using the PLI Patent Bar Review Home Study Course.

I learned so much from lurking forums like this one so I'm back to pay it forward. Here are a couple of takeaways from my experience:

- The new AIA MUCH EASIER, knowing when to apply it is HARD. The Patent Bar I believe strategically makes their questions ambiguous about when to apply the new AIA on an application, in fact, they themselves need help deciding on certain applications, this is relevant by the fact that they ask you to submit a transition statement if elements of the old and new law apply for such applications.

- Plenty of repeats from old exams, but NOT ENOUGH to depend on. I believe if you are borderline passing without knowledge of the old exams, then it will get you over the hump, otherwise, don't depend on it. I memorized 180-190 questions from old exams and I saw about 8-10 of those questions. Furthermore, quite a few of them changed the dates so that the new AIA applied. Without reading carefully, I would have chosen the wrong answer.

- Don't depend on being able to spot out the throw away questions, I was sort of hoping the throw away questions would be so ridiculous that I knew they weren't going to be counted. This simply was not the case in my experience.

-Lastly - YOU MUST GIVE YOURSELF TIME FOR LOOK UPS!! With all of the studying I did (about 200 hours), some of the questions were impossible to know without giving myself appropriate time for lookups. I ended up changing approximately 8-10 questions each section during lookup. And I only changed a question i knew to be 100% correct, that it is saw the answer almost verbatim in the MPEP. This means I got 15-20% higher than if I had simply went with my first guess.

If there's anything else you'd like to know, Ask away! 

Sorry to revive an old thread... Taking my exam on the 25th. When you say there were 8-10 repeats, you mean from the 2002 and 2003 exams, right? Also, what would you say is the best test taking strategy? Try to do a run-through of the questions without searching, and then search for the ones you aren't sure about after?

Hoping to be one and done, like you!

Good luck!

I would say the number 1 advice I can give is to do many, many, many practice problems! After studying for the PLI course for over 175 hours. I took a practice and received a 40%. From that point on I spent another 30-40 hours practicing exam style problems. I made sure to MEMORIZE all old exams (the 02 and 03 ones)

There is a slight nuance that I should mention, The old exams have some answers that would contradict the current law (More-so than just applying the new AIA) so be careful to mind the dates to see how it would apply under the current law.

The strategy that worked for me during test day was to draw a grid #1-50 for both that AM and the PM test. When I was unsure of an answer. I would make a not on that grid as well as the corresponding chapter/law. Once i finished all 50 answers, I would go through the grid and answer all questions corresponding to 102, 103, Appeals, etc.

This way I didn't waste time hopping from chapter to chapter.

Hope this helps.

[NYSea]

When you say the answers to the old exams, are you mainly talking about the questions that center around prior art, which would be different under the AIA and the effective date for it (3/13/13)? Like you said, the concepts and rules under the AIA (anywhere in the world, IPR/PGR, inventor disclosed for prior art), but the difficult part is going to be figuring out the effective date for all of these questions.

Might be picking your brain more and more as the test gets closer lol... Thanks for your help so far.

[FEyzaguirre]

Besides PLI, are there any other test-prep courses you recommend, or that you heard good things about?

[shane44]

Quick search question,

When searching the MPEP vie preview on my Mac, putting a phrase in quotes (i.e. "this phrase") will filter and substantially eliminate results to exactly whats in the quotes, just like a google search.  Is this how the exam mpep works?  Thanks!

[NJ Patent1]

MYK:  "Congratulations, and good job, that's the way to do it."  Thank you!  I too passed on first try (albeit many years ago), and pass rate was <50% (last exam w/ claim drafting)!  Never had to look at MPEP on first pass– picked B and moved on.  Never 'checked' answers, just revisited those I skipped over. First impression usually correct.  IMO good advice.  Although congrats are indeed due OP, many others passed too.  AIA not that hard?  Two dates and one phrase, "claim to a claimed invention" to keep in mind.  Read the question carefully, just 'examsmanship 101', they are out to trick sloppy readers.  Is USPTO really testing on how to file a supplemental ADS when Office itself hasn't figured-out how it should be done?  All said, I have no desire to take exam again (IIRC something akin to periodic "rectification" was discussed at one time, thankfully scuttled). 

As for the sparrow; IMO species not important, at least for horizontal flight, a red herring.  Mass may be.  In horizontal flight, I estimate relative air speed at 2.59567 +/- 5% m/s for both species.  Vertical flight, as in a sparrow who died in flight (a little help from BB gun, not mine!)?  Don't know terminal velocity.  Important, and may depend if died "wings out" or "wings in" – air resistance.  I heard (really!) piece on public radio re: cats who fall-out of high-rise windows in Manhattan (apparently occurs with some frequency in summer).  Seems that mortality rate levels-off at about 9 floors – average cats reach terminal velocity (hence average momentum) at and above that height.  Sparrows have less mass and may reach terminal velocity from lower height.