e-EQE - D 2021 (EN & DE): copy to try yourself, and many technical problems

Updated: 3 Mar 21 after message from Exam Board

Yesterday was the e-EQE D Exam (still called Paper D even though no paper is used any more 😉. If you want to try yourself, see here for combined EN & DE copy. The text was extracted from peoples answers (sorry, no French). The EPO normally makes official copies available in the compendium in the week after the EQE. 

• I made the exam at the same time as candidates as a bench marker. The Examination Committees have 5 external people per exam, and the answers are used for Committee discussions. They do not directly influence the marking, but allow group discussions on what should and should not be awarded marks
• See below for more detail. I have not discussed the content of the exam, and avoided any spoilers, but I will try and respond to comments on this post or in the Telegram chat about particular questions. Also check the Telegram groups for discussions and comments. 

1. Telegram chat groups

• The main group has 255 members, for general issues and WISEflow + LockDown Browser + Zendesk issues. The (ABC+PE claims analysis) group has 114 members, the (D+PE legal) group has 116 members, and the summer study group for EQE 2022 preparation already has 67 members. Now also a EQE Marketplace if you want to sell or buy EQE materials.
• Mainly for students to discuss with others, but also open to any tutors. 
• If you have just done an exam, only discuss the answers if you can really take it. For most people, it is better not to discuss - you can't change your answer, no-one knows what the marking will be for particular answers (Main Exam) and sometimes more than one Pre-Exam answer is accepted. 
• Group rules: no discussions of ways to cheat, no exchanges of large sections of copyrighted materials (excerpts, annotated examples, WIPO/EPO docs etc. are allowed), no requesting or sharing of exam materials until after the scheduled end of the last part of that exam, no requesting or sharing of invigilator password.

2. WISEflow, before the exam, after the exam

• Own answers were available 45 mins (could also have been earlier) after the scheduled end of the last part (as promised) 👍
• At least one person noticed that the pdf of their answer was missing pages. It is not clear how widespread it is, but it is advisable to check (while you remember) whether it is complete

3. LockDown Browser (many comments posted under PE 2021 post and in Telegram chats)

• After starting LockDown Browser for Part 1 at 0930, the assignment (exam) was only available in German. The selection menu at the top of the thumbnail was missing. So, it was only German in both the preview window and in separate tabs
• I immediately refreshed the Browser, and the menu reappeared, so I only lost 3-4 minutes.
• However, refresh did not work for everybody, or it only worked after 20 minutes, or they had to restart the Browser. Someone said that the Zendesk queue was 1100 people 😭
• At 1020, a message popped up to say that everyone had been given an extra 10 minutes to compensate. My exam countdown clock did not change
• At 1045 (15 minutes before the scheduled end), a second pop up saying that everyone had been given an extra 30 mins, but that the break was reduced from 30 mins to 20 mins, and Part 2 would start at 1150 instead of 1130. The D2 schedule in the afternoon did not change, so the break after Part 2 was reduced from 45 mins to 25 mins. 
• I saw that my countdown clock had changed, but I handed-in at 1103 voluntarily because I was benchmarking
• It is very positive that the EQE organisation were able to react so quickly to help those still working on the exam 👍. However, there were still some issues:
• not everybody's clocks were extended, so they were forced to hand-in at 1105 ( the scheduled end). Some got reactions from Zendesk that they would be compensated for any issues.
• Extending a 90 minute session to 120 minutes without breaks was a problem for some
• It is pretty stressful when the start times change because you need to be there on time to log-in
• Some people reported the same problem in D1-2 (Part 2)
• Update: On official e-EQE page, a message from Examination Board (3 Mar 21):
• The Examination Board of the EQE is aware of a situation that affected paper D1.1. The Examination Board guarantees that the marking process will be conducted so that no candidate will be disadvantaged because of that.👍👍👍

• Problems seen when handing-in answers at the end of D2 (quoted from Telegram chat)
• Could not submit because of "connection error". System message gets you nowhere as everything is greyed out. 
• Told by Zendesk to refresh. They said it's a common issue. System overload as everyone submits at the same time (and the D-2 has a larger data volume). 
• So be aware of this for A,B, C-1 and C-2

• Screen went white approx, 10mins before end of  Part 1 (quoted from Telegram chat, occurred during Pre-Exam)
• Browser would not start for Part 2, so 10 mins late to get it to work. 
• Froze again in the middle of part 2, and again 3 mins before the end of part 2, forced to reinstall lockdown browser each time
• Both times answers had to be handed in afterwards as missed end time of exam.
• Managed to get remote assistance from IT over lunch break 👍. They removed loads of programs and checked IP addresses which fixed the issue.
• Not sure what it was as didn’t happen in any of the mocks. Hope to have passed - it was very disruptive. 

• Invigilators were very friendly and tried to help.👍

4. Reporting complaints & problems to helpdesk@eqe.org

• See here for post about Instructions to Candidates
• ItC 11- email complaints regarding conduct as soon as possible, but no later than end of day of the exam. ItC 39 - email report on any disruptions during exam for which candidates are not responsible or which are beyond their control within 24 hrs of end of exam.
• The EQE organisation is well aware of many issues, and general issues affecting large numbers of people will be taken into account during the marking. However, they may not be aware how a disruption or incident has affected an individual candidates performance. The idea of reporting is to give them a chance to consider whether to take it into account during the marking. They may also not realise how a positive thing for many (30 mins extension) could have a negative effect on an individual.
• As an emails need to be sent very quickly, and most candidates are pretty tired after the exam, I worked with Preston Richard (Bardehle Pagenberg) to make a complaint template with some of the possible things you may wish to mention (we collected them from the blogs and chats). It may also reduce the number of emails from each candidate.
• But don't just copy everything and send it - it must be personalised to explain your situation and experiences.

CLICK BELOW FOR MORE ABOUT D EXAM (no spoilers)

5. D Exam (general, impression and methodology)

• Very happy that the formatting of the exam was much improved 👍, so CTRL-C and CTL-V were sufficient for all Part 1 questions, two Part 2 questions (Q4 question did not paste well) and D2 (most important for those relying on it 👍).
• When using CTRL-A/CTRL-C, it seems like there is a 3-page limit for each copy
• The Table of Contents overview and the clickable links to navigate between the different styles worked perfectly 👍
• I am not a fast typist, but I managed a similar speed to on paper
• I used CTRL-F in D2 a couple of time
• on papers where argumentation structure repeats (like D2 and C), copy/paste of parts of your answer, or quickly making a template from the first piece is faster (as long as you don't forget to change all the facts).
• I like being able to use the explicit questions as a checklist in my answer to make sure I don't forget anything
• D1 questions seemed designed to keep the stress as low as possible:
• almost all questions had the facts in chronological order 👍
• almost everything had been asked before in previous exams, or could be considered from the core of the syllabus
• small exception: last part of one PCT question 
• D1 methodology:
• I copied each question into my answer first. I used a header "Copy of Exam" to label that section. 
• I did not highlight or underline the facts in my answer. I read the questions using the copy in my answer, and made a rough vertical timeline in each answer by copying the sentences exactly with facts and dates, and pasting them in chronological order
• I did not waste time making it neat - I used the exact wording from the question, so the dates were not always in the same place, but it was chronological.
• I copied the last part of the questions ("the explicit questions") as a rough framework for my answer to make sure I didn't forget anything
• D2 part was very well designed 👏, allowing it to be made in different ways:
• dates were almost all in chronological order, which makes it a lot easier to analyze. 
• the "story" was well-written, with a natural flow to it. This helps remembering.
• simple technology, anyone can understand 👍. I prefer this in D2 because technological understanding is tested anyway in the ABC Exams.
• abbreviations given 👍 which reduces the amount of typing (it was always possible to us two-letter abbreviation, but it is much easier when they are given and used throughout the exam).
• classic style questions, but being explicit about which combinations to discuss 👍. So you don't forget anything.
• I think most people should get close to the end in 3 hours, and pick up quite a few marks explaining what they were doing
• the 50 marks for D2 is a reduction of 15% compared to previous years. The subject matter to discuss was more limited and fewer loose ends to worry about than before 👍 
• the two procedural legal issues could be solved relatively separately, and they did not greatly influence the patentability. In fact, the patentability analysis and the legal issues overlapped such that you could do them in any order and they strengthened each other 👍 
• a third substantive legal issue was clearly signaled, which if you did correctly, reduced the amount of work that you needed to do 👍
• dealing with national rights is sometimes a distraction, but that was cleverly minimised 👍 
• D2 methodology: I did it the same as here in my Mock2 - D2 exam post
• in general, if you see something in an exam that you knows gives marks, you should try and write it (like novelty attacks in C Exam). I know you risk getting lost, but if you stick to a strict step-by-step approach, you may not get to the end. For this D2, you can (and should do that)