The United States Patent and Trademark Office has updated the patent bar exam, sometimes referred to as the patent registration examination.  Effective April 12, 2011, the patent bar examination now tests MPEP 8th Edition Revision 8, as well as critically important guidelines, such as the KSR, Bilski and 112 guidelines, not yet a part of any edition of the MPEP.  See USPTO Updates Registration Examination.  I have been teaching the PLI Patent Bar Review Course for over 10 years now, and along with John White (the original course creator) participated in revising our materials, lectures and questions to bring the course up to date with the latest edition of the exam now being offered.  I continue to believe the PLI Patent Bar Review Course is the best course out there, and I have put together the following Top 10 reasons to take our Review Course.

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1. PLI’s 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.

2. We have spent considerable time and effort putting together new materials that specifically and directly cover the newly testable materials (i.e., KSR, Bilski and 112 guidelines) that are not a part of MPEP Rev. 8. We expect that these newly testable materials will be heavily tested on the new patent bar examination.

3. We feel confident that old courses and the many deeply discounted courses on the web just won’t be able to help you with the new exam. So many of the deeply discounted courses were leveraged on the fact that the exam hand not changed since 2006, and were largely or wholly comprised of available old exams and other materials you could have largely collected on your own. Virtually all of those old materials and certainly all the old patent bar exam questions are now outdated. You run serious risk using old materials or a course that relies on old exams published by the USPTO.  This is because the USPTO hasn’t issued any exam questions to the public since 2003 and a lot has changed since then! Further, you almost certainly can’t pass without a detailed analysis and practice questions on the newly testable materials (i.e., MPEP Rev. 8, KSR, Bilski and the 112 guidelines).

4. We’ve expanded the introductory materials, to give students a firmer grounding in the law of patents, before we launch into the tested details of the MPEP. Given that the test will almost certainly heavily test KSR and Bilski, we are spending more time in our lectures to help students understand the cases, the back-story and why they are so critically important. We feel this heavier emphasis on why these cases are so important and influential will help students understand Federal Circuit rulings and USPTO interpretations, which are what will be tested.

John White at PLI in NY in May 2010

5. No other course has the history and depth of experience with the Patent Bar Exam that PLI and our faculty have. John White, the creator of the PLI Patent Bar Review Course, has been teaching patent bar review courses for over 20 years and has written questions that have appeared on the Patent Bar Exam in the past. I have been teaching alongside of John for 10 years now, and as you can tell from my various blogging endeavors I stay up to the minute on virtually everything of consequence in the patent world. Both John and I have made teaching a significant part of our careers, but we both also continue to represent clients, keeping us fresh and current. We feel there is no other patent bar faculty with this depth of knowledge and experience.

6. Our home study course is now online for 24/7 access, anywhere you have an Internet connection. No disks to lug around anymore. No more – “I forgot to bring the one disk I really need?” We make it as easy as possible to access our materials, lectures and questions wherever you are at any time of the day or night.

7. Patware (our practice software that mimics the real Patent Bar Exam) is now online too, so that you get instant feedback on your performance as compared to our other takers. This will let you know from the start that you’re on track to pass. As has always been the case, Patware’s sophisticated diagnostics will give you a roadmap to success, charting your progress toward a passing score, showing you exactly where to focus if you’re not quite there yet.

8. EVERYONE who purchases a course from PLI gets access to the online course, even if they’re also coming to a live location. We view the online access as enormously important. Yes, the live courses are extremely advantageous for many because you can put your life on hold and get thoroughly immersed in the material over 5 days.  You can also meet John and I, as well as ask us questions face to face. With our materials available online 24/7/365 that gives us the ability to add an extra mini-lecture or a new assignment from time to time as the exam focus changes over time.  We will also be watching how students answer questions and continue to try and identify problematic areas and enhance our live lectures and online materials.

9. With our materials online we also have the flexibility to allow students to ask questions about the lectures seamlessly from directly within the online course. It will even note what point in the lecture you’re asking about, which will make it easier (and quicker) for John White to respond. And yes, John White himself responds to every inquiry.

10. If you haven’t passed the patent bar exam, and previously bought a previous version of the PLI course from PLI directly, you will get the repeater discount of 50%. If you didn’t get past the Exam the first time, this course will really help you do it! And once you have access to the new online course PLI will be with you until you pass the exam.

I feel that PLI’s course has always been the best, and in fact recommended it to my law school students well before I started teaching the course. I personally know the amount of time and effort that has been put into the new PLI Patent Bar Review Course to make it even better. I firmly believe that nothing else comes close.

The Spring/Summer 2011 live schedule is as follows:

• New York, NY — May 11, 2011 to May 15, 2011
• San Francisco, CA — June 22, 2011 to June 26, 2011
• Boston, MA — July 13, 2011 to July 17, 2011
• Chicago, IL — August 2, 2011 to August 6, 2011
• New York, NY — September 14, 2011 to September 18, 2011

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone as I travel the country again this spring/summer with PLI!