New Patent Bar Online Exam - Prometric

John Watts · 08-06-04 at 02:25 AM

Darius,

I actually did a first pass of the questions, answering about 70-80 % of the question in 1.5 hours. I then used the remaining 1.5 hours to answer the remaining questions and recheck all the questions again...I was able to accomplish this with about 5 minutes to spare on each section...since searching the MPEP was impossible, I wasn't able to verify many of the questions like I wish I was able to do...

I prepared quite a bit so about half of the questions I *thought* I knew instantly, but after I got home and was able to search the PDF, I realized that there were a lot of "tricky" questions with very similiar answer choices where perhaps the answer choice I selected was not the "best" answer, allbeit a perfectly valid answer.

There are fact-based, story line questions and straight 'which of the following does not comply with the whatever requirement' type...proabaly more long fact-based questions...and of course there are some poorly wriiten questions in which you won't be able to understand the facts provided...

I remember one question in particulr had a fact pattern that stated 'the sole inventor of the subject matter died before executing the oath.' Then later on it states 'Inventor Ivanna signed the oath.' Is Inventor Ivanna the inventor, or some1 with propritary interest, or just a random person...it never said...the inventor is supposedly dead...so the question seems inconsistent...anyways I spent way too long re-reading the question like 20 times to no avail...it just was a poorly written question...

anyways good luck...I think we will all need it :-) If I took the test again with the same questions I'm sure I'd pass now after reading the biotechnology section/PTO official sections again...those questions really got me...hopefully your test will be more straightforward...

J. Watts

jay · 08-06-04 at 04:46 AM

I've been getting about 75% on the 2001 and 2002 exams, and I have nothing else to do but to study for this exam these days. I was gonna schedule it for August 17th, but do you think I should spend more time studying? what should I do to improve my score?

Darius · 08-06-04 at 06:39 AM

Thanks for the post John, I appreciate it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all you first rounders pass the exam!

As for Jay's post - I think we're in the same boat. I still rely heavily on the MPEP because there is just no way I'm going to memorize certain details necessary to discern between closely worded answer choices. At this point, I'm still taking practice exams, the most recent ones are priority, and time permitting, older ones pre 2001.

I'm not exactly sure what study course you are using, but I have patbar.com, and it comes with two nicely condensed guides (one is a FAQ, and one is a last minute type "outline"), each about 200 pages (and this is "condensed!!") - it also seems that the answers I'm getting wrong on the practice tests are straight in these guides. So I guess the best thing to do is just read and re-read these damn guides until test day to hammer in certain details so things become more instinctive.

My main concern is the searchability of the MPEP which I rely on. If you think you've made a diligent effort to prepare over the summer, you might as well take it. I don't know what your situation is, but 2L starts for me the following week (8/23), and with Law Review starting already and other random loose ends before classes start, I definitely want to take this test 3rd week of August. I'm sure if you could wait a few weeks, it might be better to have the computer kinks worked out.

Take people's advice here and make sure you know PCT, re-examination, reissue and a little of biotech.

This is just my opinion, but hope it helps.

D

jay · 08-07-04 at 04:48 AM

For those who have taken the exam
(and those who will be taking the exam soon), do you guys want to petition to USPTO regarding the current condition for the computerized patent bar exam? Obviously the "find" function for MPEP works poorly, enough to crash the computer. And, I belive most of us rely heavily on MPEP to go thru many of the exam questions. What do you guys think?

in reply to Darius, I'll be a 1L this fall, and I wanted to take the patent bar before the classes start. but, I don't know if I'll be ready on time. got only 10more days to study, and I can barely get over 70%.

d232 · 08-07-04 at 08:58 PM

Concerning posts about PTO officials being heavily tested, do you mean conduct of USPTO employees, or which official is responsible for what?

Is there a specific chapter that this is in or search terms that would help?

Thanks!

BenL · 08-09-04 at 01:57 PM

In response to Jay, the USPTO is definitely aware of the problems. After I took the exam, prometrics filed a report with the USPTO detailing the problems that occurred. Also, after the exam you are prompted to fill out an online survey and submit comments.

Those who take the exam and don't pass may be able to petition based on problems with the test, but I don't think there is much you can do before taking it.

David Givens · 08-09-04 at 08:14 PM

I called the PTO today to confirm whether test results will be mailed 2 or 6 weeks after the exam. The PTO confirmed that results will be mailed 6 weeks after the exam.

jay · 08-10-04 at 01:40 AM

called USPTO today regarding the problems with search function on MPEP. the lady said they're working on the permanent solution, and don't know how long it'll take till everything's resolved. A temporary solution would be to press a space bar to unfreeze(?) but I didn't know what she meant by this. I was gonna take it next week, but I might just wait till September. hopefully the beginning of 1L first semester won't get in the way of patent bar prep.

John Watts · 08-10-04 at 03:36 AM

6 weeks is a long time and, in all honestly, my score would have been at least 5 points higher if I was able to search the MPEP properly...I already told the PTO this and they stated that they will do everything they can to assist those who had difficulty with the new format and beleive that their scores were adversely affected...I don't know what this means, but maybe we will get a reduced fee for a retake if we don't pass...

and for those taking the exam...I was getting well over 80% on past exams, and I still think I would be lucky to pass this new computerized one....

I'm also starting law school in a couple weeks....I should have taken the exam last year!

Simon · 08-11-04 at 02:46 PM

Does the new format not effectively make it much easier to become a patent agent since the question bank is the same for every time the test is given? Even if the question bank is 300 questions, the second time you take the exam (which could be pretty much as soon as you want, right?), 33 of the questions should be repeats! The third time, 55, and the fourth time, 70?

If there are no limits as to how often a person can retake it, it seems that this makes it much easier for someone to pass the exam just by throwing some time and money at it, without really knowing the material. Is this not the case?

Otto · 08-11-04 at 11:47 PM

USPTO ADDRESSES ISSUE WITH SEARCHABLE MPEP:

I just logged on to the OED website and saw this:

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/oed/testing_problem.html

Sharon · 08-15-04 at 08:54 PM

I'll be taking the exam in the next two weeks and I'm interested in any feedback for test sites in the NYC area. My closest test site is in with a Huntingdon or Sylvan learning center (like for afterschool tutoring for kids), and I can't imagine it being a good environment. Any suggestions concerning which sites have newer computers, visible screens etc.

Simon · 08-16-04 at 04:34 AM

The testing center in brooklyn heights, co-located with Sylvan was VERY nice and professional. There were no noisy kids around or anything of that sort. The MPEP worked quickly and the monitors were clear, although they flickered visibly because of low refresh rates. You'll be asked to put everything you have with you into a relatively small locker, and give in your USPTO letter allowing you to take the exam. The staff is very nice, the room is very quiet, I would say that as far as the testing center environment goes, my experience was very positive. Also, much of what people said here about lack of repeats from previous exams was not true in my case. You may find yourself using a completely different strategy on this exam from the "guess now and look it up later" approach that is most natural to practice lacking a searchable manual. On this test it is difficult to keep yourself from looking up every answer choice right as you're answering it because you feel like the info could be a click away. In many cases, you will be right.

BenL · 08-19-04 at 03:14 AM

Has anyone who took the patent exam during the first week received their results?

Darius · 08-21-04 at 01:24 AM

Hello all,

I took the patent bar yesterday. Here are my comments and observations on the exam. Hope it's useful for you upcoming testakers.

My background for the exam: I studied the whole summer (2nd week of June to 3rd week of August), almost every single day 2-3 hours using patbar materials; some of which was casual reading in front of the TV. I did tons of past test questions provided with the review course along with doing past exams since Oct. 2000 while making sure I understood those I got wrong. I did review reading up until test day.

Firstly, during the 2nd 3-hour portion, I had a major problem with the MPEP. After the first or 2nd question, when I pulled up the MPEP, the mouse cursor disappeared over it. The cursor was fine on the main part of the exam, but I was essentially "blindly" clicking on the MPEP hoping to hit the right box. I did what I could by pressing buttons on the keyboard to get the cursor back, but nothing worked. Barely useable, it was very frustrating trying to look things up and
needless to say, wasted a lot of my time. The cursor lost all accuracy and its movement did not correspond with the movements of my mouse. As my observations note, I have some cause for worry on my performance on the 2nd half. The staff was notified of the problem, but I was told to do the best I can. Prometric said it would report it to the USPTO.

1. For each section, I would say every 5th question was one from a previous exam, so about 10 or so were questions I had seen before.

2. The questions did have more PCT questions than previous exams.

- Some of the "new" questions had a hint of familiarity. However, a lot of them were focused on material not covered by previous exam questions. For example, I thought I knew all the pertinent parts of reissue, obviousness, and PCT down cold, but these questions managed to put a new twist on the questions (e.g.there were no questions about a broadening reissue).

3. The questions were very detailed oriented, meaning it was essential to reference the MPEP because I doubt anyone without a tremendous amount of experience would know questions down to the details required
for at least 1/3 of the "new" questions.

- The good thing was I had the right amount of practice from the provided software and focused on look up strategies. I was comfortable with the online MPEP.

4. Because this was a MPEP heavy dependent test, I had to look up at least 25 questions per section, which took up the whole 3 hours. The time I had "saved" on previous questions (which took me 30 seconds to
answer) was eaten up by reading long passages in the MPEP to sift through the details required for some of these questions. But, I made sure to finish all questions.

Hopefully I passed so this MPEP glitch isn't an issue. I can miss up to 15 per section. Hopefully I missed much less on section 1 to compensate for an anticipated mediocre performance on section 2. Now I just have to wait 6 weeks.

News: