2012 Patent Agent Exam Dates Set
According to yesterday’s issue of the Canadian Patent Office Record, the next patent agent exams have been set for April 24-27, 2012. The deadline to apply (and it is a firm deadline) is November 30, 2011.
Passing these grueling exams, held once a year in April, is a must to be able to act on behalf of inventors before the Canadian Patent Office.
As I have blogged before, the exams are notoriously difficult. Plus, the pass rates have been declining, according to the Chair of the Patent Agent Examining Board, Agnès Lajoie, as stated in her 2010 report. She observed that most successful candidates pass in their first or second sitting, while other candidates are unlikely to pass after 4 attempts. The data tell the story:
Total candidates 2003-2010: 236 255 207 217 237 231 284 259
Total passes 2003-2010: 73 79 34 25 66 40 31 27
Total passes on first try 2003-2010: 20 24 7 5 12 10 10 5
Here are the details of the 2012 exam dates as published in the Canadian Patent Office Record:
Under the provisions of subsection (2) of section 14 of the Patent Rules, notice is hereby given that the 2012 examination will be held on April 24, 25, 26 and 27, 2012.
A person who proposes to sit for the examination must notify the Commissioner of Patents in writing, file an affidavit or statutory declaration referred to in subsection 2 of section 12 of the Patent Rules and pay the prescribed fee.
The deadline to apply, submit the affidavit or statutory declaration and pay the fee is November 30, 2011. When applying, it is essential to indicate which paper(s) will be written.
For more information please visit the How to become a registered patent agent web page.
