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p1921

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Patent Bar Prep

Post by p1921 » Sun Apr 24, 2016 3:02 pm

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.

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BaberhamLincoln

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by BaberhamLincoln » Fri Apr 29, 2016 4:32 pm

do NOT do Omni.
It's total shit.

I paid for Omni and hated it and am having my bank get my money back for being sold a product that isn't how it's advertised. I suggest just bite the bullet and do PLI, honestly.

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p1921

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by p1921 » Fri Apr 29, 2016 6:02 pm

BaberhamLincoln wrote:do NOT do Omni.
It's total shit.

I paid for Omni and hated it and am having my bank get my money back for being sold a product that isn't how it's advertised. I suggest just bite the bullet and do PLI, honestly.
How long ago did you take it? Their website makes it look pretty good.

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IsThisForReal

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by IsThisForReal » Sat Apr 30, 2016 1:07 am

I self studied with mypatentbar.com and all the old questions available
Last edited by IsThisForReal on Sun Jan 28, 2018 2:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

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BaberhamLincoln

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by BaberhamLincoln » Tue May 03, 2016 1:59 pm

p1921 wrote:
BaberhamLincoln wrote:do NOT do Omni.
It's total shit.

I paid for Omni and hated it and am having my bank get my money back for being sold a product that isn't how it's advertised. I suggest just bite the bullet and do PLI, honestly.
How long ago did you take it? Their website makes it look pretty good.

I'm using it right now. In conjunction with Wysebridge and MyPatentBar.com.

My friend let me see his PLI program so I could literally compare these three programs (why don't sites really show you what you're getting yourself into?!?! "Free trials" are not actually that.) and PLI is by far the best program. I could go on and on and give you details but I need to keep studying instead of procrastinate on here. Feel free to PM.

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BaberhamLincoln

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by BaberhamLincoln » Tue May 03, 2016 7:26 pm

Had time so I wanted to contribute:

So, I originally paid for Omni ($500) and let me just go through each thing they advertise as a reason not to do it - some claims are accurate, but they are the least this company can do:
- 6 month enrollment period: Accurate (that I know of. I signed up 3/31)
- 100% online for immediate access: Accurate
- Concise AIA Summary: Not true. They just pulled a shit ton of USPTO's AIA materials which you can get on USPTO for free
- 90% of all current exam questions: I don't know how they can say this when they have basically zero AIA questions and they don't even bother to make up other tests with AIA yet my friends who recently took the test say there is a lot of AIA on it
- Easy 5 step 60 day study plan: I guess; but how "easy" is a plan if the plan sucks?
- Tutored by patent attorneys: Yeah right. No questions I had were ever answered.
- Plain english MPEP overview: Sure the overview is pretty good
- Live lectures on all exam topics: LOL no. The website tells you that there are live lectures you can download to your phone. This really appealed to me because I do a ton of walking in my everyday life so I could get some studying in via listening while walking. When I paid and got into the program I learned that there are literally no live lectures - the only videos that are somewhat close to lectures are the videos on the recent AIA changes AND those are straight from the USPTO and thus not proprietary to Omni (go to the USPTO site to see those) AND they aren't even downloadable!
- Concise MPEP minireview: Yeah, but its REALLY basic if it's what I think they are referring to. If it's not that, then I don't know what they are referring to. And by minireview they mean a short pdf, not a quiz or anything interactive
- Detailed MPEP summary: Yes, but they already covered this with the "plain english MPEP overview." All they give you is a long PDF they ask you to memorize and then they have you take straight up tests after that. I learned basically nothing from the pdf - had to learn it all by taking the tests. An actual lecture, quiz, interactive program would have been way better
- Fully searchable exam MPEP: Sure....but this is available online
- Fastest MPEP search strategy: Psh. Their strategy is not a strategy it's just "look for key words"....
- Online exam simulation software: This is the free prometric simulation that anyone can get on any website for free...
- 8 full-length timed exams: I didn't even get this far because I lost hope and started taking tests only on Wysebridge.`
- 100% money back guarantee: I sure damn hope so because I'm asking for mine back through my bank right now. Having my bank do an investigation into the fact that i was advertised a product i was not given. (this is supposed to be in case you take and don't pass, but then you've lost $400 already in just the application so not a great back up plan)

Then I spoke with the creator/ceo of Wysebridge about my experience and he allowed me a short demo of his program. It's better, but it's NOT perfect. There are a ton of typos and weird bugs in the program that don't let you save quizzes - meaning I have to take a 252 question quiz in one sitting, or leave the browser up on my computer (and it clocks my time so it makes it look like it took me 10 hours to take the test...) Also, some of the questions are a joke. Some are not actual questions that have been in past exams, but rather questions that Wysebridge wrote (and you can tell which is which), but someone must not have had time to finish writing them because lots of the answer choices literally say "something." Like a valid question will be asked (albeit with typos) and A, B, and C will be normal answers and D and E will say "something" like some weird placeholder that never got filled in. It's laughable. They also advertise some AIA resources that do not exist on their site. I don't think the AIA section is complete. I will say that Bryan at Wysebrige is really nice and helpful and fast to respond. Wysebridge is way better than Omni, aside from not having an MPEP on the side to search from. You'd have to open it online or something. I use them together and the only thing I get out of Omni is the MPEP

My friend let me look at PLI and it looks much more like what you might expect from a bar prep program - modules with lectures, quizzes, tips. Timed exams that let you simulate the experience OR save as you go. They are also very fast to respond and actually seem like they care if you pass (unlike Omni). In addition to the online stuff, PLI sends you a massive binder with a ton of resources that will not only help you with patent bar but can help you in the future with claim construction, etc. (I haven't seen these papers but my friend speaks highly of them). And if you're tired of looking at a comp screen, you can take their tests in print as well as online - all their software is in both forms.

$1900 (PLI for a student) is a LOT of dough. but when you think about the headache of time you could have spent doing what I am doing (I have wasted an unreal amount of time), then you need to think about how much your time is worth....Is the $1400 difference between PLI and Omni worth it? I really can't answer that for you. I can tell you that a very slow, very buggy, very typo-riddled program will piss you off so badly and make you super stressed out. So if you're more patient than me, then maybe saving the dough is worth it - but I'm not sure it is for anyone.

Just my two cents. I haven't been employed or paid by anyone to say the above - just wish someone had told me this stuff a couple months ago.
(Sorry for typos - i realize the irony since i just complained about a ton of typos, but hey I am trying to quickly crack out advice and not trying to write an important program that people will base expensive tests off of...)

For more details or questions, PM me.

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checkers

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by checkers » Tue May 03, 2016 8:16 pm

Great writeup above on omni. Thanks for taking the time to do that.

I'll echo the above about omniprep. I started studying with omni, but quickly realized that it was less of a course and more of an expensive way to get questions and answers from old exams. If you just want some pdfs of old tests and a few explanatory charts, I'd recommend Bullseye instead for $470 less.

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p1921

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by p1921 » Tue May 03, 2016 8:20 pm

checkers wrote:Great writeup above on omni. Thanks for taking the time to do that.

I'll echo the above about omniprep. I started studying with omni, but quickly realized that it was less of a course and more of an expensive way to get questions and answers from old exams. If you just want some pdfs of old tests and a few explanatory charts, I'd recommend Bullseye instead for $470 less.
Can you elaborate a little more on Bullseye? Their website says they only have questions current through 2011 and that makes me a little hesitant.

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checkers

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by checkers » Tue May 03, 2016 9:28 pm

p1921 wrote:
checkers wrote:Great writeup above on omni. Thanks for taking the time to do that.

I'll echo the above about omniprep. I started studying with omni, but quickly realized that it was less of a course and more of an expensive way to get questions and answers from old exams. If you just want some pdfs of old tests and a few explanatory charts, I'd recommend Bullseye instead for $470 less.
Can you elaborate a little more on Bullseye? Their website says they only have questions current through 2011 and that makes me a little hesitant.
I took it in 2014 when they were just phasing in AIA questions, so on reflection my advice may not be as helpful as I thought for current test-takers. It looks like neither Bullseye nor Omniprep handles the AIA updates very well if at all though, so it might be best to go with another option.

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kcdc1

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by kcdc1 » Tue May 03, 2016 9:45 pm

I did Omni post-AIA, and I passed just fine. I really only used the practice questions tho. There might have been cheaper options--I don't know. PLI seems like a waste of $$ for an exam where you really just have to memorize what is in various sections of the MPEP and become good with keyword searching. I assume people only do PLI if their firms are footing the bill.

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by dovlet » Wed May 17, 2017 7:07 pm

I prepared using patentbar.org, old exams. I failed by few %, took exam, failed and did review sessions ($195). Took again and passed. If you need materials, I can share with you.

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by becci0123 » Thu May 25, 2017 10:18 am

dovlet wrote:I prepared using patentbar.org, old exams. I failed by few %, took exam, failed and did review sessions ($195). Took again and passed. If you need materials, I can share with you.
Hi Dovlet,
how long ago did you sit the exam? I can't seem to find patentbar.org so I'm wondering if it doesn't exist anymore. It would be great if you could share your study materials! could you email them to me?
Thanks Rebecca

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by dovlet » Sat May 27, 2017 6:50 pm

Less 2 years ago. I can give you some materials but you need to download old exams and practice yourself and master using MPEP since it is open book exam.

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by mecarey » Sat May 27, 2017 7:48 pm

becci0123 wrote:
dovlet wrote:I prepared using patentbar.org, old exams. I failed by few %, took exam, failed and did review sessions ($195). Took again and passed. If you need materials, I can share with you.
Hi Dovlet,
how long ago did you sit the exam? I can't seem to find patentbar.org so I'm wondering if it doesn't exist anymore. It would be great if you could share your study materials! could you email them to me?
Thanks Rebecca
Dovlet just had the wrong address. Here is what I (believe) Dovlet was referring to:

http://mypatentbar.com/

engineeringthelaw

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by engineeringthelaw » Thu Jun 08, 2017 2:01 pm

Does anyone know if Mypatentbar.com is shut down? I have been trying to access it for a few weeks and most of the pages are not working.

dovlet

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by dovlet » Mon Sep 04, 2017 4:13 pm

They may shut down because USPTO tracks down if there is posting from recent exams because of disclosure agreement.

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by anabasis » Mon Sep 04, 2017 6:28 pm

It is still up, but getting quite out of date - circa 2010. A number of sections are "dead links". Posting any specifics on the internet about recent exams can attract unwanted attention from OED, so I doubt it will be updated unless/until the USPTO relaxes the non-disclosure rules a bit.

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by JayBeamS » Sat Mar 03, 2018 2:40 pm

Like this other guy says above OmniPrep is nothing but a compilation of a bunch of material found freely on the internet and nothing that is proprietary. Its a total scam. They never honor their guarantee. They use a low price and a "guarantee" to attract people to their website and pay for it thinking its a no brainer. You will never get your money back. There is no live lecture or a person. Their phone line is never answered or call returned because there is no person. They don't reply to your email unless you are interested in paying. The email address is a generic email address without a name. Check them on BBB they are not accredited but they have a bunch of complaints. Their physical address is a mailbox. You won't find a single person's name anywhere on the website or in their material. Check with the Secretary of State in NV and WY, you won't find them because its owned by another entity. Investigate further and check the other entity you will find that there is a person named Eva Popovicova, who is the sole officer but I don't know if she is a real person or if she exists because she uses one of those mailbox addresses that looks like a real address. The only thing that works on their website is the third party payment platform so that they can take your money real fast and run with it. They probably don't get legally shutdown as a scam because there is some material that is being made available their website although the truth is the material is a compilation of whats already freely available on the internet. There is a guy named David who I think might have created this fake website and used all the loopholes in the system. If I ever find him I am to going after him in court and if he turns out to be a lawyer, I will report him to the Bar. I hope I am wrong in everything I said so far and I hope someone proves me wrong by providing me with some of the missing pieces of information that I mention above. This course is a scam, stay away from it, if not you will lose your money, and won't get no where.

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by pfunkera » Mon Mar 05, 2018 8:46 am

I took it at the end of December and used PLI. PLI had updated question sets to reflect AIA changes so that was helpful. Also, there will be a few repeats on the actual exam you take so if you do enough questions it could be worth a few extra points and saved time. There is basically no pre-AIA questions now. I think I had one that was somewhat pre-AIA

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by hopeful70% » Mon Apr 16, 2018 3:37 pm

@pfunkera
I decided to move the discussion to this thread before op react to the unrelated topic lol.
Thank you so much for the advice!

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by Houstonttt » Thu May 02, 2019 7:03 pm

p1921 wrote: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.
hello , i wonder if yoy got the right bar review i am in the same boat boat,i will realyy appricat eit if you can help me wiht your experince
thanks in advance

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by xmgr » Fri May 03, 2019 9:26 am

I used PLI, it worked out great. I will just say that you should study the last-published questions because they are still in the rotation. The binder is handy but I drilled on the material again and again. I haven't used anyone else so I can't compare but I also get that PLI is $1700.

QContinuum

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by QContinuum » Fri May 03, 2019 10:54 am

Omni can do the trick, but I would only recommend it if you're budget-conscious and already familiar with at least the basics of patent law. PLI's the gold standard and absolutely the right choice if you need or want more handholding. I would recommend PLI for anyone with no previous exposure to patent law.

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by supermario26 » Fri May 03, 2019 11:50 am

I used PLI after taking a patent law course in law school. I felt like the course was well-structured and the lectures were extremely helpful. I completed ~85% of the course before taking the exam and passed on the first try.

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.

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Re: Patent Bar Prep

Post by QContinuum » Fri May 03, 2019 12:04 pm

supermario26 wrote: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.

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