Patent Bar Prep Forum

[supermario26]

Sorry. QContinuum is 100% right. On PLI, you can search for a keyword and see where it pops up in different chapters, which is super helpful. On the exam, you have to know exactly which chapter to search in. It's been a while since I took the exam. Sorry for mixing that up. However, I do remember it being very laggy and taking a few seconds each time you add a new word/search term. I think the takeaway point is just to know that it's maybe a bit different and to anticipate that the interface will look different than PLI.

One thing to note - the MPEP search function on PLI is far better than what you actually get on the exam (unless they've changed that). The exam MPEP lags, doesn't allow you to search one chapter at a time, and isn't as user-friendly as PLI's.

When I took, the exam MPEP search seemed decent - I don't recall there being any especially onerous lag. Granted, the search function was primitive, so if the phrase you were searching for was broken up over two pages, or if there was any formatting like quote marks or case cites, you'd be outta luck. But it was still very helpful overall - I did a lot of searching during the exam.

I also thought you were limited to searching one chapter at a time, so you needed to know which chapter to look in. But it's been a while so my memory could be off.

[kms181]

I plan on taking the patent bar this summer, probably late-August ish. Does anyone have recommendations on what program to use? I've seen on here that PLI is great, but I'd rather spend less than $1800 if I can get away with it. I've also seen OmniPrep and mypatentbar.com, but haven't found anything conclusive re: how updated they are with AIA stuff. If there's a more recent forum on this sorry, but most of the forums I saw were ~2014 and with the patent bar changing constantly I was hoping for some more updated info.

Thanks.

I took the exam 3 weeks ago and passed, on my third try.

First try really wasn't a "try"- I was in the middle of spring finals for 3L, trying to graduate as class president (extra grad responsibilities), and wrapping up projects at my internship so I could focus on studying for the bar exam. I don't consider this a try because I hardly studied (basically skimmed each chapter of MPEP).

Second try- a co-worker gave me their PLI binder. I went through the chapters, did the practice questions at the end and felt super confident...only to fail by 2%.

Third try- I bought Wysebridge, read through this book https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Patent- ... way&sr=8-7 and did as many practice questions as possible. That book seems silly, but it's a really great breakdown of relevant chapters, and has some good questions and explanations in the back.

Basically, for the price point, I think that Wysebridge is worth it especially since I wouldn't stay focused for the online lectures of PLI anyway. Wysebridge had a ton of practice questions, and while they did repeat, have some weird answers, and more than a few typos, you get to learn the funky ones and can just skip over them. USE THE MPEP TO ANSWER PRACTICE QUESTIONS. Doing this, and the fact that Wysebridge has practice questions separated by chapter, was invaluable for learning where everything is located within the MPEP. I began to recognize questions and could immediately pinpoint to the exact chapter, and subchapter, where I could find the answer. They have a number of practice tests (and don't get upset that they're still from 2002-2003; my test three weeks ago had 3-4 questions verbatim from those older exams. I'm glad I practiced them.) Also, there's an entire AIA practice quiz section and there are REALLY great outlines/test day reviews that break down some of the more heavily tested sections, with really useful charts (example: ex parte reexam vs. inter partes reecam vs. inter partes review vs. covered business methods)

Also, if you chat with Bryan, or other reps, they'll often give you a discount code for the course, especially if you're a current student.

On a negative note, the mobile app can be handy, but crashes often when taking quizzes.

[kms181]

Sorry. QContinuum is 100% right. On PLI, you can search for a keyword and see where it pops up in different chapters, which is super helpful. On the exam, you have to know exactly which chapter to search in. It's been a while since I took the exam. Sorry for mixing that up. However, I do remember it being very laggy and taking a few seconds each time you add a new word/search term. I think the takeaway point is just to know that it's maybe a bit different and to anticipate that the interface will look different than PLI.

One thing to note - the MPEP search function on PLI is far better than what you actually get on the exam (unless they've changed that). The exam MPEP lags, doesn't allow you to search one chapter at a time, and isn't as user-friendly as PLI's.

When I took, the exam MPEP search seemed decent - I don't recall there being any especially onerous lag. Granted, the search function was primitive, so if the phrase you were searching for was broken up over two pages, or if there was any formatting like quote marks or case cites, you'd be outta luck. But it was still very helpful overall - I did a lot of searching during the exam.

I also thought you were limited to searching one chapter at a time, so you needed to know which chapter to look in. But it's been a while so my memory could be off.

While you do have to know which chapter to search in, don't forget about the usefulness of the subject matter index. I'd often just open that up and search the word I was looking for. Also learning how to manipulate the MPEP settings on test day was useful- one person I talked to didn't realize you could "repeat search", or change the view of the chapters into an outline instead of page by page, or change the reading view to scrolled pages instead of singles.

However, the exam MPEP is still laggy and clicking on some of the links from within chapters made my computer crash 3x on test day. Not fun.

[QContinuum]

Thanks for circling back in and CONGRATS on passing! Passing the patent bar's no mean feat - until recently, the pass rate has been lower than for any state bar (CA included).