Upon acceptance of your application by the USPTO, you’ll have a 90-day period to sit for the exam. It’s crucial to align this with your study schedule and Prometric exam booking. Schedule your exam at any Thompson Prometric testing center, which are mostly open during business hours, with some offering weekend and night hours.
The patent bar exam is offered year-round through computer-based testing centers across the United States. However, there may be specific deadlines associated with registering at certain locations due to limited availability. It’s important to plan ahead and register early if possible.
Beginning on July 26, 2004, the Patent Bar Exam moved to a computer-based format.
The computerized Patent Bar Exam (administered by Prometric) is available to take at any point throughout the year. The exam consists of a morning and an afternoon session. Each session lasts 3 hours and is composed of 50 multiple choice questions. There is a 1 hour lunch break between the morning and afternoon session.
Although you will have 100 questions to answer, only 90 of the questions will be scored. You will need to answer 63 questions or more correct in order to pass (70% of the 90 questions).
Outside materials are not allowed. The testing facility provides an online, searchable version of the MPEP. Starting October 19, 2006, the exam is based on the 8th Edition, Revision 4. The facility also supplies paper and a pencil – all papers will be collected before you may leave the examination.
Once you have submitted your admission form and have been accepted to take the Patent Bar Exam, you are given a 90-day window. You must schedule and take your exam with the testing center during this window period. Weekend test dates fill up quickly, so you should schedule a test date as soon as you receive your confirmation if there is a specific day that you want to take the test. Also, you can change your scheduled test date without penalty subject to availability at the testing center and keeping in mind that the new date must fall within the original 90-day window.
The cost of the exam is expected to be as follows; a nonrefundable application fee of $40, a registration examination fee of $200, and a service fee of $150 to the administration facility.
After taking the exam, you should learn of your results immediately. You will then be mailed an official score report that will let you know whether you passed or failed.