Posts in Patents

Beginning January 31, 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will update the content of the patent registration examination to cover two new rules issued September 26, 2011 that relate to the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. These new rules permit prioritized examination of patent applications (Track I) and revise the standard for granting inter partes reexamination requests. Additionally, the patent registration examination will also include questions concerning the November 22, 2011 rules governing practice in ex parte appeals before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences.

Don’t forget that as of the end of the 2011 fiscal year on September 30, 2011, the PTO has a “backfile” of nearly 679,000 patent applications that have not yet been given even a first Office Action. It will take at least 3 to 4 years, likely longer, to resolve all the patent applications currently pending. If you factor in appeals from those cases, continuation applications and requests for continued examination and we are realistically talking about 7 to 8 years for this chunk of applications to work their way through the system, with the inevitable outlier patent application that will take 10+ years thanks to multiple delaying episodes (i.e., chaining RCEs and an appeal together, for example). On top of this, we will still be filing patent applications subject to the old, first to invent system through March 15, 2013. This, as well as reexamination timeline realities (i.e., statute of limitations survives 6 years past a patent falling into the public domain), means that the “old law” will remain relevant to life at the Patent Office for quite some time.

I’m not suggesting that those who write the patent bar examination questions are testing irrelevant stuff, but what types of questions would you ask if you were writing an exam question that tried to determine whether someone who wanted to be admitted to the club understood the rules well enough to become a member? You would likely ask questions about organization rules and procedures that fell into one of several categories: (1) those that are commonly misunderstood or unknown by current members; (2) those that are of extraordinary importance due to the magnitude of harm that could accompany a misunderstanding or mistake; or (3) those things that are particularly weird. So it isn’t at all surprising that counter-intuitive rules that are commonly misunderstood or misapplied make up a statistically relevant portion of the exam.

What I can report is that the USPTO did, in fact, meet the April 12, 2011, deadline and the newly testable material is being tested as advertised. The USPTO is also continuing to update the exam through a rigorous process of writing, vetting, and testing new questions. In addition to covering long-standing areas of patent practice, questions are being added to the database that are directed to new and emerging trends in the law and evolving rules of procedure. The subject matter covered by the exam as a whole will continue to test rules, laws and regulations that have been in existence for years, but will also increasingly include questions testing the changes.

Effective April 12, 2011, the USPTO has dramatically updated the patent bar examination. As a result, the PLI Patent Bar Review Course has been completely updated – overhauled really. We had already been working on updates to our materials based on the inevitable change in the exam moving from MPEP Rev. 4 to MPEP Rev. 8. We knew it was only a matter of time before a new revision of the MPEP was tested, so we have had MPEP Rev. 8 materials at the ready. The text and questions have been completely revised and our lectures re-done. We feel confident the PLI patent bar review course is simply the best!

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will update its registration examination and provide new reference materials effective April 12, 2011. The changes will help ensure that newly registered patent attorneys and agents are fully qualified in the most current patent laws, rules and procedures. This change marks the first change to the exam in approximately 5 years, and will bring the patent bar exam current with law, rules and regulations through the Winter of 2011.

This announcement signals a major shift in the way would-be patent attorneys and patent agents will be tested, bringing the exam forward to test the latest developments in rules and laws. It can be reasonably anticipated that the patent bar exam will become a moving target as the Kappos Administration continues to move forward with initiative after initiative and rules package after rules package. Those preparing to take the exam need to be mindful of the need to stay current and not rely upon outdated study guides, reference materials and old questions when studying for the exam.

And now a message from the shameless commerce division, brought to you by the #1 Patent Bar Review Course in the Nation… the PLI Patent Bar Review Course. PLI is offering a 20% discount for those who sign up to attend the Orange Country course in Costa Mesa, California. To take advantage of the 20% discount you need to call the PLI Patent Bar Review Hotline at 888.296.5973 by the close of business Eastern Time on Wednesday, May 26, 2010.

PLI is pleased to announce a new live course added to the schedule in conjunction with the Santa Clara University School of Law’s High Tech Law Institute. The Santa Clara course is scheduled for Monday, May 24, 2010 to Friday, May 28, 2010. The PLI Patent Bar Review course is not typically Monday through Friday, and there are always some that say they would prefer a Monday through Friday live course, so if that is your preference here is your chance.

This year individuals seeking registration before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) as patent attorneys and agents can take the exam at the USPTO on July 13 or July 14, 2010. The deadline for applying to take the exam in person at the USPTO is Friday, May 14, 2010. While the last time the Patent Office released Patent Bar Examination results is well over 3 years ago, over the preceding decade some 30,609 administrations of the exam, with 16,266 individuals passing the exam and becoming either patent attorneys or patent agents, which corresponds to an overall pass rate of 53.1%.

It is about that time of the year where our calendar really starts to heat up. This course, which happens every year during law school spring break, finds us in Chicago during St. Patrick’s Day festivities and the start of the NCAA College Basketball tournament. Once our Spring school tour is over then we will be back on the road teaching courses in New York City (May), Southern CA (June), Boston (July), Chicago (August), New York City (September) and San Francisco (November). We are indeed heading into our busy season!

“Patrick Walsh” was a little too broad; I limited it to “Patrick Walsh patent,” to see if anything of interest popped up more specific to my career as a professional patent searcher. What I found was this gem of early 1900’s journalism from the New York Times: Dated May 14th, 1909. If you were so unlucky as to fall victim to the former Walsh Bros. & Company, you were only down $4, Even by 1909 standards, $4 isn’t not the end of the world.

Some of the most popular pages month after month on IPWatchdog.com are our Patent Bar information pages, and given that I teach for the PLI Patent Bar Review Course we get a lot of e-mail inquiries regarding the patent bar examination.  Pretty much every week we hear from individuals who are interested in becoming patent agents or patent attorneys, and…