USPTO Updates Registration Exam for Patent Practitioners

Washington – 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.

All applicants wishing to practice in patent cases before the USPTO must pass the registration exam consisting of 100 multiple choice questions.  The revised exam questions will be based on the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) Edition 8, Revision 8, along with other published USPTO policy and procedure reference materials. Administration of the previous version of the registration examination ceased April 4, 2011.

“Patent applicants and examiners will benefit from the updated registration examination because newly registered patent attorneys and agents will have demonstrated familiarity with the most current patent laws, rules and procedures,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos.

Effective April 12, 2011, the computer-delivered registration examination will be updated to utilize the following reference materials:

• Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), Edition 8, Revision 8 (available at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/mpep.htm);
  
• Examination Guidelines Update: Developments in the Obviousness Inquiry After KSR v. Teleflex (available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-21646.pdf);
  
• New Interim Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Examination Instructions, August 2009 (available at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/dapp/opla/2009-08-25_interim_101_instructions.pdf);
  
• Interim Guidance for Determining Subject Matter Eligibility for Process Claims in View of Bilski v. Kappos (available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-18424.pdf);
  
• Interim Guidance for Determining Subject Matter Eligibility for Process Claims in View of Bilski v. Kappos, July 2010 (available at http://www.uspto.gov/patents/law/exam/bilski_guidance_27jul2010.pdf); and
  
• Supplementary Examination Guidelines for Determining Compliance with 35 U.S.C. § 112 and for Treatment of Related Issues in Patent Applications (available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2011/pdf/2011-2841.pdf)

For additional details on the content of the registration examination, please refer to http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/oed/exam/notice_re_reg_exam_source_material.jsp.
The General Requirements Bulletin includes all information necessary for applying to the examination, and is available at http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/oed/grb.pdf.
For non-press inquiries, please contact the Office of Enrollment and Discipline at (571) 272-4097.