If you need some details about the Patent Bar exam that you'd like sorted out before you begin your preparations, please be sure to review our 4-Part Patent Bar Guide. This guide is available free of charge on our website, but is very valuable.
You can learn details about the Patent Bar Exam, Why take it, the necessary qualifications, and some strategies for passing it.
Make sure to review this guide for further information if you're still deciding on this career or whether or not you'd like to take the exam.
- 100 point multiple choice test. A passing score is 70% or above.
- The exam is 6 hours long. You'll have one 3 hour session, followed by a 1 hour break, followed by another 3 hours session. Each session consists of 50 questions.
- The exam is offered via Prometric on a computer.
- The material comes from the MPEP (Manual of Patent Examining Procedure).
- You will have access to the MPEP during the exam, but won't be able to look up anywhere near to all the questions.
- The best patent practitioners will have people skills (mainly in the area of communication), excellent writing skills, and a strong background in science or engineering.
- You must take and pass the Patent Bar exam in order to become a registered patent agent or patent attorney. There is no way around it.
- Passing the Patent Bar and adding this credential to your resume can help your career even if you decide to stay an engineer or scientist.
- You can become a patent agent without a law degree. In order to meet the requirements for the exam you need a science or engineering degree.
- Patent agents and patent attorneys get paid fairly well. The average pay for a patent agent is between $67,000 and $102,000 per year (according to PayScale). The average pay for patent attorneys is between $81,000 and $137,000 a year (PayScale).
- According to AIPLA (American Intellectual Property Law Association), the average pay of their members is over $180,000 per year while the top earn $300,000 per year.
- You can always become a patent agent and then later, get a law degree, and upon meeting the requirements to become an attorney, you will be a patent attorney.
- Chapters 200, 600, 700, 1200, 1800, and 2100 are heavily tested in addition to the AIA (America Invents Act).
- Even with intense practice and knowledge of where the tested material is located, due to the time limits imposed on the test, you will only be able to look up around 20 to 30 questions on the day of the test.
- There are 7 types of questions you will likely encounter on the test:
- Straightforward true or false questions
- Story questions with more information than you would ever need to answer the question (very difficult)
- Claim drafting questions (very difficult)
- Fill in the blank questions
- Finish the sentence questions
- Select from Roman numerals
- Miscellaneous
- We've also included several tips for passing the exam.
All this is included free of charge on our site and can be accessed by this without a subscription to the course. Review it and feel free to pass it around! We greatly appreciate all referrals.
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