Wysebridge Patent Bar for 0L Forum

[James.K.Polk]

Hey all,

I work as a chemist now, but have the summer off before law school, and would like to get the patent bar out of the way. I'm not swimming in cash but I understand it to be a difficult exam and don't want to not pass the exam just because I was too cheap to put in the money to do so. Wysebridge, to my eyes (and TLS searches) seems to be an okay mix of affordable prep and actually updated material - can anyone corroborate that it'll be useful for a 2016 exam? Any recent reviews?

Thanks guys.

[SplitMyPants]

I, too, was eyeing Wysebridge for patent bar prep during my 3L year next year. So, I'd also be curious to hear any testimonials.

It seems like a decent site for guiding your studies. My impression is that if you put in the 160-200+ hours of study and drill the old questions, it should not be terribly difficult to pass. That's why I'm eyeing something cheaper to just help guide my studying with updated content and information on what is most important to focus on, as opposed to the way more expensive lecture series.

[James.K.Polk]

I, too, was eyeing Wysebridge for patent bar prep during my 3L year next year. So, I'd also be curious to hear any testimonials.

It seems like a decent site for guiding your studies. My impression is that if you put in the 160-200+ hours of study and drill the old questions, it should not be terribly difficult to pass. That's why I'm eyeing something cheaper to just help guide my studying with updated content and information on what is most important to focus on, as opposed to the way more expensive lecture series.

I took LSAT purely through blunt repetition (i.e. taking every published exam) but this is sort of foreign territory.

Hopefully we can get help from some more experienced test takers. All the old threads point to the classes (possible; I'd prefer not to spend $1500+) and mypatentbar.com as a backup. I understand it to be quite outdated (heck, even the comments where you can find updated information are outdated). I think my plan is buy a couple of the cheaper books and take a couple free online practice exams in the next couple weeks/months and see 1) if it's worth doing this summer and 2)how much work on top of on-your-own studying it'll require.

[skri65]

I took the patent bar last spring. I used PLI. If you just want to pass on your first try and get it over with, PLI is your go-to. I haven't checked the prep courses you are talking about, but one thing I would confirm is that these courses are 100% up-to-date. The MPEP has changed over the years, and the AIA has complicated everything. At least half (maybe more) of my test was AIA material. You really do need to know two separate sets of laws.

[sjwest]

I will preach mypatentbar.com. Best resource. I used the PatBar study kit (I think it was ~400?) but this was before AIA in 2011. Definitely think the best course of action is to practice old questions. That's what got me through. But after Alice and AIA and a whole bunch of other changes, it sounds like their focus may have changed a lot, and there won't be as many old questions.

Good luck

[fatedreality]

Hey there, just wanted to drop my two cents on wysebridge. I used it to pass the patent bar the first time around while I was in law school. I was in crunch mode and studied it for 2 1/2 weeks and was able to pass. I'm NOT a lecture-based learner, and that's why PLI was a no-go for me. I actually tried PLI twice before. I listened to several lectures and tried the exercises but wasn't able to complete them because I just didn't have the patience to sit through the hours of lecture and slog of material.

I signed up for wysebridge because the emphasis was on passing the exam -> practicing the actual questions. There are really great outlines, including ones for the new AIA topics, as well as those summarizing the major chapters of the MPEP - but I wouldn't worry about spending too much time reading/memorizing those. I spent 3 days reviewing the outlines, and the rest of time practicing questions and reading explanations over and over.

Wysebridge had lots of AIA practice questions, which was the biggest bonus of all. So if you're looking for an up-to-date study program that's flexible (spend as much or as little time as you want on the written material) and a full question bank with lots of AIA practice questions (also you can create your own quizzes), then I highly recommend wysebridge.

[SplitMyPants]

I just started working with wysebridge. I've been working through chapter 2100 and I feel like I paid $500 to access someone's haphazard outlines. I'm hoping it gets better...

If you're looking to be a patent agent (or are a 0L), this course seems like it would be a struggle (ironic given the creator is non-JD). If you are a JD and have taken patent law and have exposure to it from an SA etc., this seems like it could be workable.

I'll report back with further experiences as I progress.

[blaze1306]

I just started working with wysebridge. I've been working through chapter 2100 and I feel like I paid $500 to access someone's haphazard outlines. I'm hoping it gets better...

If you're looking to be a patent agent (or are a 0L), this course seems like it would be a struggle (ironic given the creator is non-JD). If you are a JD and have taken patent law and have exposure to it from an SA etc., this seems like it could be workable.

I'll report back with further experiences as I progress.

This is interesting...I am a JD but I want something that is going to be easy to study not an onerous task. After just taking the bar I'm not looking to bury myself in a haphazard format.