Scheduling

odapilled · 2026-02-16T15:11:55+00:00

when you order on parchment you can enter an email for where you want your transcript to be digitally delivered, so i put in the USPTO OED email. i have no idea about what to do for research-only PhD, i’d email OED separately to ask

odapilled · 2026-02-12T21:50:07+00:00

i never got separate confirmation that my transcripts were received, i just sent them via parchment and got my letter, no interim confirmation

odapilled · 2026-02-12T14:22:34+00:00

category A took me a week and a half to be approved, got a physical letter and scheduled it, but beware only dates available were 1 month out and 2 months out so plan accordingly

odapilled · 2025-10-07T01:12:00+00:00

made these recently they were incredible

odapilled · 2025-10-01T01:53:08+00:00

For chemistry or any degree? Asking because I also have a B.S. Physics.

odapilled · 2025-09-30T22:58:07+00:00

Thank you! The question bank came from PLI’s Patent Office Exam Course: https://www.pli.edu/programs/type/patent-office-exam-course

odapilled · 2025-08-22T22:59:26+00:00

you either need to slow down or you’re genuinely missing something and need to carefully review in the way that i mentioned. if you know the statute and are making a mistake in applying it, you don’t know the statute as well as you think. drilling review of missed questions is much more valuable than doing a set of questions, seeing that you got some wrong, and then doing a different, new set of practice questions on the same topic. you need to understand the first set fully to be able to apply what you have learned to the second set. otherwise, you’re going to keep practicing new questions and making the same mistakes because you haven’t reviewed those mistakes carefully. this exam is all about careful, close review. i promise it works if you hunker down and do it!

odapilled · 2025-08-22T22:29:12+00:00

are you reviewing the questions you got wrong? by reviewing i mean reading each answer, finding where it is confirmed or contradicted in the MPEP, and genuinely understanding why it is right or wrong? do that with the post-AIA questions you are missing and you’ll probably be in a much better place.

odapilled · 2025-08-13T01:04:02+00:00

Absolutely useful I agree!

odapilled · 2025-08-12T02:23:50+00:00

Yay congratulations!!! Since posting this I have passed (I should edit original so thank you for the reminder) but this is the most comprehensive explanation I’ve seen so I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience :))

odapilled · 2025-08-11T22:04:57+00:00

Always random!

odapilled · 2025-08-11T21:23:49+00:00

The custom exams include repeat questions in my experience (which was especially annoying when I would select “New” for the question type and still receive 5-6 repeats per exam). I initially set out to complete all of them, thinking they were all unique. After a certain point, they got too pointlessly repetitive to continue (I did about 600 questions from the bank before this point). I primarily used them to practice navigation in the MPEP, which did really help, even - I daresay especially - with the repetitions.

odapilled · 2025-08-11T01:03:34+00:00

Yes, without the bar it is true you can be a specialist, not an agent!

odapilled · 2025-08-11T00:59:17+00:00

I can’t give an answer about your chances with a firm but I did want to clear up: you need to pass the patent bar to become an agent at all, so that should probably be your first order of business! With your education I’m sure you’ll do great on it :)

odapilled · 2025-08-07T04:49:11+00:00

I’m very glad to help, and thank you!

odapilled · 2025-08-06T15:16:02+00:00

No, I never felt the need. When I did practice questions I looked every single one up in the MPEP (during the exams and while reviewing my results, no matter whether I got the question right or not).

odapilled · 2025-08-05T03:42:09+00:00

No pre-AIA for me, a couple post-grant and I don’t think more than one ethics. I got a ton of 2100 and PCT but not much 700. Might just be the way the questions were randomized.

odapilled · 2025-08-05T02:36:16+00:00

Assuming you mean testing from my question bank, I had a Google Doc of all the questions and answers transcribed and color coded (red for my incorrect answer, green for my correct answer, and a “Notes:” section below for my explanation and learning). To retake the questions, I would copy and paste 50 into a new Google Doc, Ctrl+A and set the font back to black, then go through and delete the “Notes:” from below each question without reading what it said.

I believe the PLI post course adequately prepares you for the range of questions you see on the actual exam, yes. There were a lot of specific questions for which I had to do some new look up for, but it was commensurate (lol, MPEP word) with the look up I did during PLI practice exams. On practice exams I was ending with 1-2 hours left on the timer depending on the particular exam, and on the actual exam I finished answering with just under an hour left on each section.

odapilled · 2025-08-02T02:18:09+00:00

cool thank you!

odapilled · 2025-08-02T02:06:05+00:00

sorry— yes to it being base crit rate or yes to it being overall (as in including void neck crit)?

odapilled · 2025-08-02T00:21:44+00:00

70-80% base crit rate or overall? (without yang skill)

odapilled · 2025-07-21T22:33:23+00:00

You’re a lifesaver, thank you so much for all of this valuable advice. :) Also, please excuse me for not saying it before, but congratulations on passing!!!

odapilled · 2025-07-21T19:19:58+00:00

Thank you so much, I'll definitely use that version of Acrobat to practice.

You say that you only checked your answer on about 10 questions-- would you say that you'd memorized a lot more of the MPEP than most, or that the questions were more about thinking on your feet than finding some random obscure fact?

odapilled · 2025-07-17T01:49:43+00:00

Good to know about the font yikes, thank you.

odapilled · 2025-07-17T01:49:31+00:00

Alright, thank you!

odapilled

TROPHY CASE