EQELIBRIUM camps - learning by doing EQE papers

A vital part of any exam preparation is to practice exams. At the EQE, you will need to make a thousand micro-decisions on each paper about where to start, what you need to do, in which order to do it, what to write, what not to write, things not to be forgotten and when to stop. You need to deal with all the details as you concentrate on the big picture. And you need to take into account your own strengths and weaknesses.
The EQELIBRIUM mock camps, founded by Łukasz Bogdan, provide a good environment for learning this - by solving papers in a group, you benefit from the ideas and insights of others. Just as important is the social aspect - you spend a few days in the Polish mountains with other candidates who have similar issues and struggles. In particular, non-native speakers and re-sitters benefit a lot from considering different points of view.
I have heard that the first camps were like an "EQE Airbnb", where candidates stayed at someone's house, spending the whole day doing papers and cooking meals together :-).
I am very happy and proud to take part in this initiative to build a knowledge-sharing community. The scheduled camps (at a hotel close to Wroclaw) for both Pre-Exam and Main Exam papers are:

• Step-by-Step Mock Camp: 1-6 Sep 2019 (Early-bird discount ends 30.07.2019)
• Warm-up Mock Camp: 8-13 Dec 2019 (Early-bird discount ends 30.09.2019)
• The Final Countdown Mock Camp: 23-28 Feb 2020 (Early-bird discount ends 30.11.2019)

Using DII to become Fit to Practice

Every year, the EPO hosts a Tutor's Meeting where EQE tutors discuss the last exams with the Examination Committee's who made them.
This year, on 18 Oct 2018, I will talk about why the DII part (Legal Opinion) of the D paper should be embraced by trainees, tutors & mentors to make trainees a better patent attorney. And trainees should embrace DII to make passing the D Paper easier. Click here to download the presentation from my firm's website - it also includes a basic methodology to start with, instructions on how to adapt and customize it, and shows the real-life skills you should practice to arrive at your own efficient (and high scoring) way of doing DII. Some possible analysis tools and matrices are also described.

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 **)

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

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