Russell IP EQE Webinars 2021 now available

This was a great initiative - Russell IP hosted almost 10 hours of free tutoring last week, primarily for candidates affected by the cancellation of  EQE 2020. From across Europe and further afield, almost 400 candidates attended the five webinars.

Recordings of the webinars, copies of the presentations, and several templates are now available on the Russell IP website (with kind permission from the tutors).

I add my thanks to everyone involved - it is not easy to find time to do this. But a little support makes a big difference to candidates in this challenging year!

Jointly initiated and coordinated by Iain Russell (Russell IP) & Guy Warner (Unilever). Tutors: Pre-Exam – Jonathan Hewett & Kathryn Rose (Venner Shipley LLP); A & B - Guy Warner (Unilever) & Iain Russell (Russell IP); C – Paul Beynon (Appleyard Lees IP LLP); D – Kirsty Simpson (Venner Shipley LLP) & Gemma Wooden (EIP).

Possible questions on "recent" legal changes - EQE 2020

The law being tested at EQE 2020 is theoretically the status on 31 Oct 2019. Unless specified otherwise, "today" on the exam is the actual day of the exam (16 or 17 Mar 2020), so the law of 31 Oct 2019 should be applied to these situations. In particular, fee amounts valid on this date should be used when specifically required to answer a question.

Make sure your legal references are up-to-date and you are aware of recent changes. See here for my overview of recent relevant EPC changes and PCT changes. I have also included my comments about whether a question is likely or not - I have no insider knowledge, it is based on experience with previous exams.

I have limited the list to 2018 & 2019 - anything before 2018 will be included in your legal references.  There is usually one DI question (or an aspect of DII), and at least one Pre-exam Legal Question, directed to a "new" subject or a "recent" legal change. As each exam takes up to 2 years to make, these may not seem new or recent to you. For example, in DII 2019, G1/15 was tested for the first time.  The decision by the Enlarged Board in that case was taken on 29 Nov 16, and it was published in the OJ EPO in Sep 2017.

The EPO-PCT Guidelines were added to the official list of EQE texts about 2 years ago. Although most of the contents are found in other references, like the Euro-PCT Guide or the Applicants Guide IP, the Examination Committee prefers the EPO-PCT Guidelines to be cited. DI 2019 was the first exam where a reference (or an equivalent) was expected for full points.
 Subjects that could be asked include:
-- PPH (Patent Prosecution Highway) - E-III, 1 - 3
-- PCT-Direct - A-IV, 1 and B-IV, 1.2

So, familiarise yourself with the changes from 2018 and 2019, and the contents of the EPO-PCT Guidelines. I also make an indexed version - it can be ordered as part of my EPO as a PCT Authority book.

Good luck!

Review: using EPC.App for Paper D - EQE 2019

I was immediately enthusiastic about EPC.App as it supports different uses by different types of candidate. To answer legal questions efficiently, you need to be able to find details (like procedural acts, time limits & references) quickly and accurately. Traditionally, either you make your own reference book or you learn to use (& annotate) a book written by someone else.
EPC.App supports both approaches and everything in-between: a digital, cross-referenced version of the EPC is provided with extensive standard notes, mark-up and comments from the editors. The standard notes were used by them to pass their EQE's, and also include links to Articles & Rules, OJEPO's, case law & guidelines.
The main structure is based on the Articles, followed by the relevant Rules. As you study on-line, hyperlinks allow you to open the resources, to make summaries and to add your own annotations. Standard notes can be hidden, so you can create a reference only covering the issues that you have difficulty with. If you need more explanation, you can make it and add it yourself. And you can put annotations next to the Article and/or Rule that you think is most logical. Just before the exam, you export it as a pdf and print it. As it becomes your reference, you can find the details a lot quicker at the exam.
To try out the book, I used only the standard EPC author's notes for the benchmarking of Paper D in 2019. See below for more details of the version I used, what I quickly found and what I did not find. PCT was not included in 2019 editions, but I am working with the editors to make PCT.App, which will be available for EQE 2020.
** Update 1 Oct 2019: 1st edition of PCT.App now available on-line, updated stand-alone EPC.App book available

EQE 2019 - Paper D

I sat the paper under exam conditions in Munich as a bench marker to give the examination committees some materials for their marking discussion. If you want to try the paper yourself, here are the compendium copies in English, French & German.

I thought it was a very good D paper - the DII had a classical feel with a limited number of issues to deal with, but still a lot of options to think through and to advise about. The technology was very simple to understand, and there were limited dates to fit in your timeline. I may have missed something obvious😉, but I thought the DII was very well constructed. No loose threads or time-killing legal issues - it fits together like some of the older papers. A lot of work to get through, but possible to get  the main parts within the time.
The DI questions had a good mix of familiar legal issues and new ones (new to the exam). Both the DI and DII had some parts that you could spend a lot of time on, but time management is a key skill on all the papers. You need to sometimes to force yourself to stop what you are doing and to move on, even if you feel like you have more to write. A noticeable amount of PCT, but most of the legal issues have either been on the exam before, or are relatively well-documented.

Most of the people I chatted to afterwards were very happy with this paper. Only the time - some overran in DI and some overran in DII. I still had quite a few things I could have written in some parts, but I had to skip them to get further in the paper.

See below for more details and possibly some spoilers.

Possible questions on "recent" legal changes - EQE 2019

The law being tested at EQE 2019 is theoretically the status on 31 Oct 2018 in the year before the exam. Unless specified otherwise, "today" on the exam is the actual day of the exam (25th - 28th Feb 2019), so the law of 31 Oct 2018 should be applied to these situations. In particular, fee amounts valid on this date should be used when specifically required to answer a question.

Make sure your legal references are up-to-date and you are aware of recent changes. See here for my overview of recent releant EPC changes and an overview of recent relevant PCT changes. I have also included my comments about whether a question is likely or not - I have no insider knowledge, it is based on experience with previous exams.

Changes in 2016 are also included as there is usually one DI question (or an aspect of DII), and at least one Pre-exam Legal Question, directed to a "new" subject or a "recent" legal change. As each exam takes up to 2 years to make, these may not seem new or recent to you. For example, in DI 2018, G3/14 was asked for the first time.  The decision by the Enlarged Board in that case was taken on 25 Mar 15, and it was published in the OJ EPO in November 2015.

They also added the EPO PCT Guidelines to the official list of EQE texts  about 2 years ago, so some topics fom here could also be expected. Most of the contents are found in other references, like the Euro-PCT Guide, the standard EPO Guidelines or in OJ EPO notices. Two subjects that are explained here in more detail include:
-- PPH (Patent Prosecution Highway) - E-III, 1 - 3 (See here for a copy of the chapter & a relevant OJ EPO)
-- PCT-Direct - A-IV, 1 and B-IV, 1.2 (See here for a copy of the chapters & a relevant OJ EPO)

So, familiarise yourself with the changes from 2016 and early 2017 as well.

Good luck!

I will be a "guinea-pig" again for the epi in Munich (EQE 2019)

I am happy to have been picked again to "guinea-pig" the EQE papers on behalf of the epi. I will be doing all the papers again - A, B, C and D. Although we are called "bench markers", we do not calibrate the exam or set a base level. The Examination Committees and markers rely on our papers for initial discussions about aspects that should get (or not get) marks and the weighting for the aspects. This helps fine-tune their internal instructions before they start the actual marking. They have about 6 people making each paper at different locations and with different backgrounds under exam conditions - these volunteers have already passed the EQE, and ideally they want us to score around 50 points.

To anyone who has passed the EQE (or passes it next year), please consider volunteering next year when the epi sends the email in October. It is very much appreciated by the Examination Board and Committees. You are not paid for the hours, but travelling expenses are refunded by the EPO via the epi. It is also possible to sign up for one paper only, but the chance of being picked is higher if you sign up for more than one. For EQE tutors, it is invaluable to sit papers you see for the first time like this.

Advice on preparing for EQE 2019 Paper D in about 160 hours

I often get asked about how best to prepare for Paper D. Ideally, you should start no later than September. Here is the minimum you should do before the exam.

The main differences with Pre-Exam:

• More subjects they can ask about
• You have to decide based on the question which law to consider and which to apply (no possible answers are given)
• You have to deal with DII (a very large, open question advising the client worth 60 marks)

1) Study DI methodology - 8 hours
Learn how to efficiently answer = to get the most marks in time available.

• Ask someone else or get a book (see below). 
• Do the DI questions of 2013 one-by-one (don't do Q.2 - law is obsolete) and really study them: what is being asked, how is it being asked, what should be in your answer. 
• Look in the Examiners Report for the minimum required (statements + legal basis) for full marks. 
• You get marks for giving an answer, and explaining how you got to the answer using the facts you have been given in the question. 
• Figure out if you missed a major issue or a minor issue - concentrate on learning lessons about major issues. 
• Study Candidates Solution for tips on writing your answer - the phrasing used, the detail level and organisation. Note that these are candidates getting almost full marks on each answer - you do not need to be at this level on all answers to pass. But you need to be able to get close to full marks on the legal subjects you know well. 
• You don't need to write full sentences - bulleted short statements are acceptable. 
• Note that the compendium is never updated, so some legal provisions may be out of date, and the fees will also be incorrect in many cases. 

2) Learn core of legal subjects (EPC and PCT) - 60 hours
Learn how the law fits around them, learn how to find things quickly in your legal book.

• Knowledge is tested by answering questions
• Do the 150 selected questions from the DeltaPatents D Book (see page 9 of the Questions part).
• Do most of them fully, but to save some time do some of them quickly by concentrating on the most relevant part of the answer. 
• For the modules with 1 or 2 questions, you can do them all. For the ones with 5 or more, just do every other one - you can go back and do the missed ones in a second run through.
• Copy some of the answers as templates into your legal books.
• Do additional questions in important area where you may be weak (like PCT)

(** 16 Oct 18: see below for updated comments about doing DII **)

Congratulations to those who passed EQE 2018

The results for the EQE Main Exam 2018 are here. Congratulations if you passed at least something - none of the papers are easy, especially when you take into account the stress. There were many comments in the Candidate's survey this year that the extra 30 minutes seems to have been cancelled out by the increased length, particularly for C and D. C and D tend to require a lot of writing, so if more time is needed to read the papers, there is less time is available to score points.

The missing scores in the graphs below at 43, 44, 49, 50 are due to the extra check that is done - if you are just failing, everything you handed-in is screened to see if you are to be considered "fit-to-practice". If so, extra points may be awarded

Paper D

Well-done to those who passed D. The final passing rate is about 7% less than last year. The DI was a lot to get through. DII was a different style compared to recent years, but it was also shorter than in 2017. My advice for D is to skip one of the DI questions (the one you know will take a long time to look up and answer). Do the DII as fully as possible and the rest of the DI questions.

Paper C

C was 7 pages longer than in 2017 - I felt like it took forever to read everything. The passing rate is slightly (3%) lower than last year, so it does not seem to have been a problem. Unfortunately, with C, you have to go through every thing - even documents that are not to suitable for the major part of an attack may contain definitions or something else useful. On C, when you have enough for an attack, write it down - don't wait for the complete picture before starting.

Paper B

This was the second year with the universal technologies. The relatively high passing rate from 2017 (80%) has been maintained. It seems that more Candidates scored 60 - 80 points compared to 2017. The advantage of the B paper (compared to A) is that you are given the starting point (the claims and part of the description as filed), and you are pointed towards the solution by the objections of the examiner and the letter from the client.


Paper A

The A paper also has the same passing rate as last year (62%). To optimally prepare for A, you need to be familiar with both chemistry and electromechanical claiming practice, as well as know how to draft a method and product/apparatus claim.

See here for an easy-to-use site dedicated to the EQE statistics made by Joeri Beetz, allowing you to do your own analysis.

EQE 2018 Paper D

I sat the paper under exam conditions in Munich as a bench marker to give the examination committees some materials for their marking discussion. If you want to look through the paper yourself, here are official copies of the paper.

My impressions were that it was a reasonable D paper - they are never easy, but I think that there were a lot of parts that were do-able and they asked frequent EQE subjects.
Most of the DI questions were open, so you needed to make strict choices about what to do - otherwise you ran out of time. The DII was more manageable than last year, and anyone who is Dutch or has lived in The Netherlands for more than a year will have immediately understood the product produced by the invention.😋. DII had less exploitation to be discussed.

Click below for some more details and spoilers about the subjects you had to deal with

Advice on preparing for EQE Paper D in about 160 hours - updated

This post has been updated for EQE 2019 here: https://saltedpatent.blogspot.com/2018/07/advice-on-preparing-for-paper-d-in.html

The official answers to the EQE 2017 papers are now available

The Examination Committe's have published their Examiners' reports containing a good "possible solution", some alternatives and comments on how the papers was actually answered by candidates.
A: Report, B: Report, C: Report, D: Report
If you unfortunately didn't pass, you should be able to get some idea what you missed using your marking sheet (which is sent by post) and these Examiner' Reports.
Note that these are not model solutions and there may be other comments/arguments that got points.

Congratulations to all those who passed one or more EQE papers

The EPO has published the results for the EQE Main Exam 2017 here. Congratulations to all those who passed at least something - none of the papers are easy, especially when you take into account the stress.

The missing scores at 43, 44, 49, 50 are due to the extra check that is done - if you are just failing, everything you wrote is screened to see if you are "fit-to-practice". If so, extra points are awarded

Paper D

In particular, well-done to those who passed D - it was a difficult paper to get through to the end. The final passing rate is about the same as last year.

Paper C

Well-done passing C - the amount of documents and text you have to deal with always makes this sometime unpredictable.

Paper B

Together with A, this was the first year with the universal technologies. It looks like a success.


Paper A

This was expected to be quite difficult for some technical backgrounds. Of all the distributions, this is the most spread out. On A, the maximum number of points you can score is limited if you begin with a inferior solution - that may explain it to some extent.
.

D 2015

For anyone wishing to do the paper before the official copies are available in the compendium, DeltaPatents has copies on our blog.

In general, I advise the candidates who have done the exam to forget about it completely now, and enjoy your summer vacation 

We also have our proposed answers on the same blog, but only look if it is not going to upset you. Nobody knows where the points exactly will be, alternative answers etc. and it is my experience that you only remember the things that you missed and got wrong, and not the things that you actually did. These answers have also been made by 3 experienced D tutors and edited. 

EQE 2014 - Possible Solutions for Pre-Exam and Paper D (Main Exam)

I hope the exams went as well as you had hoped.

In general, it is better just to forget about it all until the results are announced. Discussing it can make you feel worse because you only remember the things you missed instead of all the things you correctly wrote down.

Remember, no tutor, no candidate and none of your colleagues know:

• what the expected answers are
• the point weighting for each comment
• alternatives which are also accepted 

If it will not upset you, have a look at our suggested solutions, but note that these are based on the inputs of several experienced tutors::

Main Exam Paper D
Pre-Exam

Take some time off.
For the Main Exam candidates, enjoy your summer whatever your feeling about how it went.

Neu für die EEP (EQE) 2014 - Der D Methodik Kurs von DeltaPatents jetzt auch auf Deutsch!

Nach vielen Anfragen ehemaliger Teilnehmer bieten wir unseren einzigartigen D Methodik Kurs jetzt auch auf Deutsch an.

Was auch immer ihr Kenntnisstand ist, für das Bestehen der EEP (EQE) Teil D ist es entscheidend, dass Sie wissen, auf welche Art und Weise Sie die Fragen beantworten müssen, um eine möglichst hohe Punktzahl zu erzielen. Unsere Tutoren zeigen ihnen Schritt für Schritt, wie Sie am besten an die Fragen herangehen. Mit unsere Methode können gut vorbereitete Kandidaten im allgemeinen mindestens 55 Punkte erzielen.

Wir zeigen ihnen, wie Sie ihr Referenzmaterial effizient bei der Beantwortung der Fragen einsetzen. Außerdem diskutieren wir verschiedene Ansätze bezüglich der Aufteilung der Zeit zwischen dem DI und DII Teil.

Wir zeigen ihnen, wie sie die DI Fragen lesen und analysieren sollten. Sie bekommen eine Anleitung, wie detailliert ihre Antworten sein sollten, um in der ihnen für jede Frage zur Verfügung stehenden Zeit eine maximale Punktzahl zu erreichen. Das in der Theorie Gelernte können Sie während des Kurses sofort in den praktischen Beispielen umsetzen.

Die meiste Zeit verwenden wir auf DII Fragen, da hier die Kandidaten die meisten Probleme haben und häufig bis zu vierzig von den erreichbaren Punkten verlieren. Wir zerlegen die DII Fragen in überschaubare Teilaufgaben, welche Sie Schritt für Schritt bearbeiten können. Sie üben diese Technik an Beispielen und bearbeiten am Ende eine vollständige DII Aufgabe mit unsere speziellen Methode.

Für den Wiederholerkurs wenden wir unsere Methode auf die D Aufgabe von 2013 an. Sie finden dabei heraus, wo ihre Schwächen liegen und sie wissen anschließen, auf was Sie bei der EEP (EQE) 2014 achten müssen.

Die Kurse werden an verschiedenen Orten zu unterschiedlichen Zeiten angeboten.

Der D Methodik Kurs auf Deutsch findet vom 4. - 6. November 2013 in München statt.

Nouveau pour le EEQ (EQE) 2014 - Le cours D de méthodologie de DeltaPatents maintenant aussi en français!

Après de multiples demandes formulées par des participants précédents, nous offrons désormais notre cours D de méthodologie unique également en français.

Quel que soit votre niveau de connaissances, pour passer la partie D du EEQ (EQE) il est très important de savoir de quelle manière vous devez répondre aux questions pour obtenir le maximum de points. Pour cela, nous vous apprenons comment appréhender au mieux les questions. Avec notre méthodologie unique, un candidat bien préparé peut atteindre en général au minimum 55 points. Nous vous montrons comment utiliser votre matériel de référence d'une manière efficace pour répondre aux questions. En outre, nous discutons des approches différentes pour gérer répartir le temps entre les parties DI et DII.

Pour les questions de DI, vous apprendrez comment les lire et les analyser et dans quel niveau de détail vous devez répondre pour obtenir le maximum des points dans le temps imparti pour chaque question. Vous allez appliquez la théorie immédiatement sur des exemples.

La plus grande partie du temps est consacrée aux questions de DII, parce que celles-ci posent le plus de problèmes à la plupart des candidats. Souvent, les candidats perdent jusqu'à 40 des 60 points possibles dans la partie DII.
Nous divisons les questions de DII en parties gérables, que vous pouvez aborder d'une façon étape-par-étape. Vous pratiquerez cette technique sur des exemples et au final sur un sujet de DII complet.

Pour le cours de "re-sitters", nous appliquons notre méthode au sujet D de 2013, afin que vous puissiez reconnaître vos points faibles et sachiez à quoi vous faire attention dans le EEQ (EQE) de 2014.

Les cours seront offerts à des lieux et dates différents.

Le cours D de méthodologie en français aura lieu en octobre ou novembre 2013  (date à déterminé) à Paris.

New for EQE / EEP / EEQ 2014 - Our D Methodology course also in German or French

Following countless requests by previous participants, we are now offering the unique DeltaPatents D Methodology Course in French and German.

Whatever your knowledge level, you must optimise the points scored for the things you know and limit the damage, usually in time, due to the rest. Our approach mirrors the task on the exam for a legally well-prepared candidate - i.e. generating an answer worth at least 55 points based on questions seen for the first time.

We explain how to access your reference materials in a fast, efficient way on the exam. We discuss different approaches to dividing your time between the DI and DI parts.

For DI, we demonstrate how to read the questions, which steps to go through during analysis and what details you need to hand-in to maximise your points within the time allotted for each question. Theory and practice are mixed so that you can try out the techniques immediately.

We devote most of the time to DII because this is where the biggest problems are, and this is where an average candidate can lose up to 40 of the 60 points available. We break the DII down into manageable tasks, which you can approach in a step-by-step fashion. You will practice these steps on test cases and finally on a full DII paper.

For the re-sitters course, we apply the methodology to the D 2013 paper so that you will understand your main weaknesses, and know what to do differently at the EQE / EEP / EEQ in 2014.

The courses are offered at various locations and dates - see here

The course in German is from 4-6 November in Munich.
The course in French is in October or November (still to be decided) in Paris

Alternative zum Vorbereitungsseminar für die Prüfungsaufgabe D in Strasbourg - EEP (EQE) 2014

CEPI bietet jedes Jahr im Januar ein fünftägiges Seminar zur Vorbereitung der Prüfungsaufgabe D an. Als Alternative hierzu bietet DeltaPatents ein viertägiges Seminar auf Deutsch und Englisch in München und Eindhoven an. In diesem Seminar lernen Sie, wie Sie DI und DII Fragen effizient beantworten und dabei eine möglichst hohe Punktzahl erzielen.

Sie beantworten selbstständig die DI und DII Fragen und der Tutor nimmt sich anschliessend die Zeit, die korrekten Antworten im Detail mit Ihnen gemeinsam zu erarbeiten und zu besprechen. Somit können Sie Ihre Methode, wie Sie an DI und DII Fragen herangehen, optimieren. Es wird auch besprochen, wie Sie geschickt die Zeit zwischen DI und DII Fragen aufteilen können. Ausserdem erhalten sie komplette Modelllösungen für alle in dem Seminar behandelten Fragen, sodass Sie sich die im Unterricht erarbeiteten Lösungen zu Hause noch einmal im Detail und in Ruhe anschauen können. Uns ist es wichtig, mit Ihnen nicht nur möglichst viele Aufgaben zu üben, sondern Ihnen auch Ihre Schwachpunkte bei der Beantwortung der Fragen zu zeigen und Ihnen ein Rüstzeug an die Hand zu geben, wie Sie auch unter Prüfungsbedinungen effizient DI und DII Fragen beantworten können.

Als Beispiele für DII Fragen verwenden wir die DII Aufgabe von 2013 und eine modifizierte 3 Stunden Version der DII Aufgabe von 2012. Zusätzlich werden wir in diesem Seminar auch ausgewählte DI Fragen von 2012 und 2013 beantworten zusammen mit von uns gestellten DI Aufgaben, die auf Änderungen des EPÜ und PCT gerichtet sind und wahrscheinlichin der EEP (EQE) 2014 gestellt werden.

Hier sind unsere Kursdaten:

• 21. bis 24. Januar 2014 in Eindhoven (Englisch)
• 27. bis 30. Januar 2014 in München (Deutsch)

Alternative to Preparatory Seminar for Paper D in Strasbourg - EQE / EEP / EEQ 2014

Every year, CEIPI arranges the Preparatory Seminars for Paper D in January.
For those looking for a more exam-oriented approach, we now offer a new 4-day Guided Trial Run course.

At the exam, you need to optimize the points scored for the things that you know. Not only do we deal with legal issues, but we also guide you through the DI and DII parts to show you how they can be answered at the exam - from the question through to a good answer. We give you the chance to practice on your own, with an interactive discussion of the answers - not only of the legal points, but also style and brevity. We also practice dividing the time between the DI and DII parts, and we will discuss what to take to the exam.

You will get our full model solutions for all questions used. We will use the DII of 2013, and a modified 3 hour version of the DII 2012 paper. We will also use DI questions from 2012 and 2013, along with new EQE-like questions directed to recent EPC and PCT legal changes that are likely to be asked at the EQE / EEP / EEQ 2014.


It will be given twice:

• in English in Eindhoven  (21 - 24 January 2014)
• in German in Munich (27 - 30 January 2014)

More details here.

Extra language help coming (soon?) for EQE candidates

The EQE is hard enough in your own language, but doing it in a foreign language makes it extra difficult. The EPO has announced that they will be offering language training in English, French and German to future EQE candidates.

This is a great idea, and should help a lot of those who struggle with reading and writing in the time given.

I don't know whether this will be distance-learning or training on-site, but I believe the intention is to also cover technical language as used on the A, B, C and DII papers.