Andrea's Patent Bar Adventures™
When I was in first grade, I told my homeroom teacher that I wanted to become a scientist when I grew up. This was in part because I thought my Plan A of becoming a painter was dead in the water after I could not color inside the lines of yet another fruit bowl assignment, but it was mostly because of the classes I realized I enjoyed more than art class. Named after Pierre and Marie Curie, my K-12 school encouraged scientific curiosity and highlighted the work of great inventors throughout the year. I was able to nurture an affinity for STEM in general, but with so many fields to choose from, deciding how to pursue my very broad interests was not an easy task when senior year came around. I finally decided to study mechanical engineering but staying inside the lines of the field still felt like I was missing so much. After starting to work in the oil and gas industry after graduation (and not enjoying it as much as I learned from it) an opportunity to work as a patent engineer came up, and my field of vision opened back up. I learned about how crucial patents were for encouraging investment and economic development. I was able to learn about the newest technology in fields I never considered affected my life, and I discovered I did not have to be an inventor myself for becoming a part of the development of scientific innovation, I could keep learning about everything, little by little, like I always wanted.
Last year I dedicated hundreds of hours for preparing for the USPTO’s Registration Certification, or as it is better known in the intellectual property circles, the “Patent Bar.” A daunting task, the exam is a 6 hour-long, multiple-choice test only available for people that already have a STEM degree or have a minimum required number of credit hours in STEM courses. The exam covers the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), that describes the laws and federal regulations that the examination of patents in the US must follow. Both patent agents and patent attorneys can represent a client during patent prosecution. Although you do not need a JD to take the patent bar, only lawyers that have passed it can work as patent attorneys.
Since I already had two years of experience working in the field as an engineer, I assumed my preparation for taking the test did not have to be as rigorous as someone who was starting from zero, like many other engineering and science recent graduates. I was both right and wrong. I was able to understand vocabulary without taking a deep dive every time something new came up, but understanding and being able to tell rules and laws apart was not something I had experienced when working in the technical aspect of patents. My weekends would often start on a sour note as I took practice tests every Friday, with less-than-ideal results. In order to feel confident enough to schedule my test appointment, I still had to study between 10-25 hours per week between June and December last year, even considering I was following one of the most popular exam review courses in the market and I had coworkers that were always willing to offer advice and answers. Thankfully, all the hours and effort paid off, and I was able to start the new year with a patent agent registration.
As I keep marveling about how scientific innovation is the motor that keeps humanity moving forward, I would like to encourage curious minds that never felt they knew enough of something in order to pursue it, to learn more about anything and everything. If you like technical aspects of all sciences but do not want to work on a very specific technical field for the rest of your life, working in patent prosecution as a patent agent or even as a patent attorney may be of interest to you too!
6 things that could make the difference when studying for the Patent Bar:
Talk to a patent agent or a patent attorney you know about why they chose their profession. It is easy to get discouraged when you still have to read hundreds of pages you may never need again. Having someone reassure you that patent prosecution is much more fun than studying for the test may be what you need to keep pushing forward the reading and memorization. If you don’t know anyone, contact a local agent or lawyer through LinkedIn!
Take a Patent Bar review course. These may not be available to everyone as some of them go upwards of $2000. However, courses tend to offer discounts for students. If you are lucky enough to be in the IP field already, your company may also be able to sponsor your preferred course. I was able to take PLI’s 2020 Exam Course thanks to my employer’s support. The benefit of these outweighs the investment cost.
Check out the Examiner training materials on the USPTO’s website. These are free online modules used for training entry-level patent examiners that are easy to understand and clarify heavily tested topics such as prior art rejections, restrictions, the Patent Cooperation Treaty, 35 U.S.C. § 101, and 35 U.S.C. § 112. I checked some of these even three times before fully grasping a concept that was evading me.
Take as many practice tests as you can. There are several available tests online taken from exams from previous years. Even though these do not follow the provisions set by the America Invents Act (“AIA”) of 2011, there are hundreds of discussions from online forums that help understand how the new guidelines would affect the problems presented.
Study consistently. It’s easy to feel good about understanding a full chapter and taking a long break between that chapter and the next one. Do not fall in that trap. Studying consistently at a healthy pace is better than cramming for this test.
Try to incorporate passive studying throughout your day if repetition works for you. I had recordings of lectures and listened to them while cooking, when getting ready for work, or in the car, like I would with an audiobook or a podcast. Reflecting on the lectures without the stress of having a screen or book in front of me and have to immediately answer practice questions helped with my anxiety on the weeks before the test.
ANDREA RODRIGUEZ
Patent Agent