General Information
Taking and passing the Examination for Registration to Practice in Patent Cases (known as the ‘Patent Bar Exam’) is required by United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in order to practice in patent cases before the USPTO. So basically, if you want to become a registered Patent Agent (those without a JD – U.S. Law degree) or a registered Patent Attorney (those with a JD-law degree), you must pass this exam as part of the requirement to be a patent agent/attorney.
3000
number of pages in the MPEP - good thing it's an open book exam...
100
number of multiple choice questions
5
number of answer choices per question
70
percent needed to pass
3
length of each exam session
2
number of exam sessions
1
60 minute lunch break between exam sessions
Gain confidence and build a solid knowledge-base to equip you to pass the exam.
Material Tested
All of the questions on the USPTO Patent Bar Exam are sourced from material contained within the MPEP or supplementary bulletins. You will be responsible for:
1) Knowing and/or
2) Being able to look up (it’s an open book exam).
Notice we said “knowing and/or being able to look up.” We’ll get into this point later. Sadly, a lot of test-takers get swamped into thinking they have to know everything about the MPEP. Then because the MPEP is 3000 pages, they waste time and energy studying the wrong things (and studying the wrong way), and many of them do not pass the first time taking the exam.
Exam Structure
The patent bar exam is a 100 Multiple Choice Question exam (with 5 answer choices per question).
It is 6 hours long comprised of two 3hr session with a one-1hr optional break in the middle. You will get 3 hours to answer 50 questions in the morning, and another 3 hours to answer another 50 questions after the optional break.
Passing Grade
A minimum score of 70 is required to pass the exam, and you will be shown a preliminary pass/fail as soon as you complete the exam. If you have failed, you will be shown your score and given instructions for the review session and how to reschedule your exam should you choose. If you pass, you will only be told that “you have passed.”
- Currently on every exam you will see 10 questions that are not counted/scored. These are “beta” questions that the USPTO is trying out on you. However, you will not know or be told which questions these are. Thus, your exam is really only 90 scored questions (which means you need to get 63/90 right).
- It might be simpler to always think “I need 70 correct” out of 100 to pass, as you probably won’t know which questions are the unscored questions on your exam. But, knowing that there are 10 questions that don’t count against you can help. For example, if you get every single “beta” question wrong… you could still end up with a 100% pass! Just keep that tucked in your mind in case you think on exam day “man, there were about 20 questions I didn’t know anything about.” Odds are, after using our study materials, that probably a good number of those questions were beta questions.
Fees and costs associated with the exam.
240
USPTO fees to register for the patent bar exam
160
Prometric fees to take the computerized exam
100
USPTO fee to register as a practitioner after passing
500
Approximate cost to register & take the Patent Bar Exam
Pass the patent bar exam today with Wysebridge & change your life!
Need a payment plan to get started with your studies? Wysebridge has you covered.
Sign up for a no-risk free trial today!
