Patent Bar Observations Forum

[sky7]

For those who care:

Took exam yesterday 9/07/2011, passed, and had a few observations:

1. My test was relatively light on PCT and Appeals, which was surprising, as most of the common wisdom out there indicate that these are heavily tested areas. It was also very light on repeats. I'd say no more than 6-7 from the 2002/2003 exams, and perhaps another 5 that I picked up from the various sites (patentbarquestions.com/mypatentbar.com). Every repeat I had was verbatim, down to the order of the answer selection. Once I realized that the test was going to be super light on repeats, I started to think I was going to be SoL. However, see #2.

2. NOTHING makes up for knowing generally where stuff is in the MPEP. Because of the lack of repeats, I was scrambling for the entire test period, but I was apparently able to effectively suss out correct answers. I found the index to be very unresponsive to searching because searches look at the whole index, not a chapter identified by letter.

3. The PDF software. I have no complaints with how easy it was to open and get to various parts of the MPEP, or with the scaling of the window. However, the search function was definitely flawed. There were a couple of occasions where I KNEW something was in a chapter, but the search wouldn't find it. On three occasions, I had to close the MPEP, reopen it, then re-search - which then found the reference I was looking for. Moral of the story - if you KNOW that something is there, don't blindly follow the search function.

4. My test was absurdly heavy on 103 rejections. Before the test yesterday, if I had read that statement, my initial though would have been "money in the bank". However, these questions were very nuanced and especially difficult. Due to the high question amount (at least ten 103 questions), I'm thinking that some of them must have been experimental questions. However, I'd make sure that you spend a good chunk of time going over the subject matter.

5. New matter - KSR and recent court cases WERE tested. I hadn't looked at any of it, because I was too concerned with learning everything else! However, it was super obvious when they were testing it (they actually say... reject under KSR because of X as an answer choice), and a quick read of the supplemental documents allowed me to get those questions correct.

Good luck to all those still studying. I'm happy to field any general questions.

[thwalls]

Congrats on passing!

I took the exam a year before they changed it and it sounds a lot harder now. I'm surprised by the lack of PCT questions. It doesn't surprise me that they're testing 103(a) so heavy since that is where you'll make your money as a patent attorney/agent if you prosecute.

Welcome to the party.

[sky7]

Thanks! I literally had no clue whether I passed or not when the exam ended. I think I was probably right on the bubble. But as far as I know, I got every questions right, so that's what I'm going with!

[bernard97]

I had pretty much the same experience when I took it in August. I cannot stress enough how important it is to know where everything is in the MPEP. you have three hours, so plenty of time to search for things if you KNOW where to look