Pre-Exam 2021: first impressions?
To all who sat the Pre-Exam today:
What are your first impressions to this year's Pre-Exam?
What was the effect of doing it online?
How did you experience taking the exam from your home or office location rather than in an examination center?
(How) was it different due to the due of the LockDown Browser?
What was the effect of the Pre-Exam being split into 4 parts?
Were you able to finish each of the legal parts of the exam in the 70 minutes available for the appropriate part? And for each of the claims analysis parts?
What was the effect of the situation that you had to take the exam largely from the screen (as only a small part could be printed) rather than from paper?
Did you experience any technical difficulties during the exam? How & how fast were they solved?
Any general or specific comments?
Were the legal topics well balanced? Was the balance between EPC and PCT right for you? Were recent changes and stable legal provisions tested in the right balance for you? Which of the legal questions did you consider particularly difficult, and which relatively 'easy'?
Were the various aspects of claims analysis well balanced? How did you deal with the situation that only part of the paper (only the prior art) could be printed?
How many marks do you expect to have scored in the legal part, in the claims analysis, and for the whole paper?
What is your expectation of the pass rate and the average score?
How did this year's paper compare to the earlier pre-exams of 2015-2019 (assuming your practiced those) w.r.t. the pre-exam as a whole, w.r.t. the legal part and w.r.t. the claims analysis part?
In particular, how did this year's claims analysis part compare to the 2019 claims analysis part which had 2 cases of 5 questions each?
In particular, how did this year's claims analysis part compare to the 2019 claims analysis part which had 2 cases of 5 questions each?
The paper and our answers
[Update 4 March 2021 7:15:] We have compiled a version of the paper, in English; it is available here . In our version, the sequence of the questions and statements corresponds to the order as was presented to some candidates; other candidates obtained the questions (in the legal parts) and the statements within a question (in the legal parts as well as in the claims analysis parts) in different order.
(We expect that the paper will become available in all three official EPO languages on the EQE website, Compendium, Pre-Exam at the end of the week or next week)
Our Pre-Exam 2021 blog is composed of three separate blogs:
- first impressions with your comments as to first impressions, the Pre-Exam 2021 as a whole, the e-EQE platform, etc
- legal part with our answers tio the legal questions
- claims part with our answers to the claims analysis questions
We look forward to your comments!
Comments are welcome in any official EPO language, not just English. So, comments in German and French are also very welcome!
Comments are welcome in any official EPO language, not just English. So, comments in German and French are also very welcome!
Please do not post your comments anonymously - it is allowed, but it makes responding more difficult and rather clumsy ("Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms Anonymous of 02-03-2021 22:23"), whereas using your real name or a nickname is more personal, more interesting and makes a more attractive conversation. You do not need to log in or make an account - it is OK to just put your (nick) name at the end of your post.
Please post your comments as to first impressions and general remarks to the Pre-Exam paper as a whole, and to the two parts (legal part and claims analysis) as whole parts to this blog.
Please post substantial questions to specific legal questions to our post for the legal part and claims analysis related questions to our post for the claims analysis part (once those are available).
Please post substantial questions to specific legal questions to our post for the legal part and claims analysis related questions to our post for the claims analysis part (once those are available).
Thanks!
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Difficult circumstances to be doing it online this year. The uncertainty and numerous modifications to instructions/guidance and significant wiseflow issues has badly affected my preparations this year. Overall, its an ok paper.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Very difficult to properly prepare & sit the exams this year given the situation. Feel for the candidates who are sitting the main EQEs.
DeleteYes, agree to this. V difficult to preparations - no doubt it has affected my exam performance. I was very anxious about the IT requirements.
Delete100% agree
DeleteThe paper was ok. Slightly hard legal questions I thought. I think the breaks worked well. I do agree with the others that exam preparation has been badly affected by the heavy admin requirements placed on us before the exams.
ReplyDeleteHello, does anyone know when they announce the results? Or can we see the results online?
ReplyDeleteNot results, but the correct answers.. Because I saw that we can preview our answers from the wiseflow.
Deletenormally takes a few months.
Deleteseriously? it is straight-forward with true and false. Hopefully, deltapatents will give us the correct answers. :) It will be hard to wait the results for me.
DeleteIn 2019, the results were available within 3 weeks.
DeleteMain exam results normally take a few months (in 2018 and 2019, late or mid June).
DeletePre-exam results normally faster (in 2018 and 2019, 3-4 weeks).
A bit of a delay may be in your advantage: then the Committee and Examination Board have more time to take any input into account to consider, for example, neutralization of some statements. So although the marking can in principle be quick now since the answers are electronically (in earlier exams, the answer sheet with the colored circles had to be collected, scanned, checked - partially by hand, ...), the careful marking and evaluation process needs some time.
Thank you Roel
DeleteRegarding question 10.2 (regarding the error concerning applicant A and applicant B), should we have to report it to the EPO or can we hope that they have seen the error and that they will take this into account before giving the results.
Hi Sarah,
DeleteAt various Tutor meetings, the Exam Committees and the Examination Board indicated that they read out blogs. So, you can assume that they have spotted the issues, will review the issue and will -where they consider that appropriate- take appropriate action.
You can also point their attention to it if you wish: you need to do so via the EQE secretariat, can use email - see Art. 19(1) REE "Any communication concerning the examination shall be addressed to the Secretariat."
Hi Roel,
DeleteCristal clear.
Thank you.
"In 2019, the results were available within 3 weeks."
DeleteBut not this year.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI found quite confortable to make the exam with the wiseflow, in digital at home.
ReplyDeleteThe legal part was harder than expected, the claim analysis part easier, at least the prior art part was short..
I agree that the paper was ok. I found some of the legal questions difficult (appeal, search fee) and there were a couple of trick questions (second generation divisional). For the claim analysis, some amendments were very long and included many different features which made it complex. But on the other hand, some questions were very easy.
ReplyDeleteI found it quite difficult to focus on claim analysis working from a screen. Not being able to print the claims, and having to scroll up and down constantly (or write out the claim) was troublesome. It all adds up to distracting you from the actual question where simple mistakes can be made. I print claims when WFH to avoid eye strain and simple mistakes.
ReplyDeleteagreed. I had to keep scrolling up and down to compare the claims in the question and in the top, which was quite distracting, although time seems sufficient.
DeleteI totally agree, this scrolling down and up was really confusing.
DeleteTotally agree as well, hard to correctly read the claim and follow the dependencies.
DeleteI also agree. the claim analysis part maybe was not difficult but it was difficult to focus on because of 3 languages and scrolling up and down.
DeleteHow did invigilation work? Did you receive any flags or did you have to show your room during the exam? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteNo flags and I didn't have to show the room.
DeleteNo interaction with invigilator at all. Very disturbing
DeleteI found the paper to be definitely difficult compared to previous years. Felt quite a few qs focused on appeals and oppositions in the legal part. The claim analysis was just annoying to do as have to keep scrolling up and down to read the claims and answer the q. Not really sure how I did on this one, so looking forward to seeing some provisional answers.
ReplyDeleteI agree it was more difficult than 2019, but that has had the highest pass rate since 2014 due to its much less difficult claims analysis part, so 2019 is not the best benchmark.
DeleteIn my view, the legal part was comparable to 2014-2019, which also had some questions which required serious look-up effort in your material and which also requires G-decisions and/or opposition/appeal/PCT.
The claims parts were in my view well-balanced and comparable to 2014-2017 in difficulty level (2018 was much much longer and much more complex, and has the lowest pass rate as a result). The online format requiring a lot of scrolling (especially due to the 3-langual format) was certainly a complication, and it also increased the risk to accidentally make an error as a result - I cannot estimate the effect of that on the level of complexity and pass rate.
I think it went pretty well. I think the legal questions were reasonable, if a little heavy on oral proceedings. sufficient time to deal with them. I also think that the ability to access the legal texts is very useful (and environmentally better).
ReplyDeleteLike others on here I think the claims analysis needs some improvement in oder to work on a screen; due to the three languages there is a lot of scroller through the document. I think as simple an improvement as collapsible sections for each question would help. That being said I worked around it by putting the question into the built in note pad.
As for sitting it at home, I loved it. A far more relaxed day, including sitting in the garden to eat. No need to travel to a test centre, a familiar setting which helps keep you relaxed and no worry about forgetting a a document.
The splitting up of the exam was good from a break perspective, but less useful from a time management point couldn't spend less time on easier questions and "transfer" to harder ones.
I used about 40 and 55 minutes for legal parts, and 45 and 60 for the claims parts. Used the rest of the time to review, but made no significant changes. Did not dare to stop early. So kind of waited with hand-in until the end of the 70 minutes.
DeleteDue to the breaks and the 4x10 minutes extra, the exam as whole took very long with ling waiting times in between. Not 4 hours, but 6 hours and 40 minutes. Long exam compared to the 45 + 55 + 45 + 60 minutes. And was tired after 3 parts when already working on the exam for 3 * 70.
Split into two parts rather than four would be better.
Your time use is in line with what I would expect from a well-prepared candidate for this paper, and is also inline with time use for previous papers by well-prepared candidates.
DeleteTwo or four parts: I expect that this will be subject to review, and that based on the outcome of that (and on the degree to which next year's exam is already prepared), the number of parts for next year's exam will be chosen.
DeleteI can also imagine a split like 1 legal part of 2 hours, and 2 claims parts of 1h15 each. But... would you want to sit 2 hours without an unscheduled break?
I found the paper to be fair. I agree with the others on here that the admin requirements prior to the exam has affected preparation and as such, I didn't cover as many topics as I wished for as I had to dedicate time to address the admin issues.
ReplyDeleteLegal questions cover common topics I felt. Claim analysis was also ok but lots of scrolling does it make it difficult.
And a big thumbs up to the breaks. I appreciated the breaks. Hopefully, they can squeeze breaks in for papers A and B next year.
DeleteIs the paper copy made available yet. Delta patents are normally pretty good at releasing legal part questions later today if they have a clean copy of the paper.
ReplyDeleteWe have compiled a version of the full paper (in English); it is available via the link that I added to the blog post - search for "[Update 4 March 2021 7:15:]"
DeleteIn our version, the sequence of the questions and statements corresponds to the order used in this blog. We numbered the questions and statements to allow easy reference in this blog.
Some candidates got the questions and statements in this order in the real exam. Other candidates obtained the questions (in the legal parts) and the statements within a question (in the legal parts as well as in the claims analysis parts) in different order.
I had technical difficulties which made sitting the exam very difficult. It seems I am in a limited minority. I did the mock exam without any issues. However today my browser kept freezing. This meant I had only 40 minutes to answer legal part 2 which were difficult in parts due to the topics.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathryn,
DeleteDid you report your issued via Zendesk during the exam and/or via email to helpdesk@eqe.org afterwards?
That could make a difference in the marking of your paper
Kathryn - do report this to helpdesk EQE straight away. It could also be an issue that could affect others in the next few days but importantly, it would alert your issue to the EQE examiner.
Deletehi :)
DeleteZendesk were aware of the issues as my answers had to be manually submitted after the exam end time for both part 1 and part 2 as it crashed before I could submit. This has been done okay and I am able to view my answers on Wiseflow.
I have emailed HelpDesk as well. Hopefully if DP answers are believed I have passed without it being an issue so fingers crossed. I hope other candidates don't experience the same issues this week.
I will add that the inviligilators were very responsive on the chat so this helped a lot, but quite frustrating that I participated in all of the testing procedures and never had any issues.
Kathryn
Hi Katryn,
Deleteunfortunately we cannot give a full guarantee that our answers all are correct... but as far as history gives a prediction for the future, we did always very well with our answers ;) And our answers together with the blog discussions gave also a good prediction as to which statements would be neutralized (not too surprising, as differences in interpretation or inaccuracies in the answer will pop up when discussing a paper with hundreds of people).
But... we will need to wait and see, and probably we do not need to wait too long (in 2019, 3 weeks between Pre-Exam and results&examiner's report)!
I can imagine that it is every frustrating that there were technical issues despite you having checked everything carefully during the mocks. Luckily the system is setup such that answers are almost continuously stored locally and/or in the wiseflow cloud, so that your answers did not yet lost and could be submitted after the end time. I guess it gave additional stress during the exam - I hope the breaks allowed you to recover from that before the next parts.
DeleteGood to hear that you are positive about the inviligilators.
Hi Roel; from your 2019 posts, it seems that the 2019 results were actually released just after about two weeks. Let's hope that this year's results are also issued promptly (I don't have the guts to check my answers ;))!
DeleteIf anyone else has any issues today then do share and report to helpdesk EQE.
ReplyDeleteHi, should we be reporting any noises that occured during the exam? On a couple of occasions, my neighbours were talking quite loudly in the room below me (for periods of less than a couple of minutes both times). It didn't disturb me at all, but I assume it was picked up by the microphone. I was not contacted by an invigilator during the exam. Should I be preemptively emailing help desk to explain such noises?
Deletei found both taking the exam online and preparing for it by online courses instead of classroom training very pleasant. Makes it much easier to balance family life, work and training.
ReplyDeleteThe long multi-language text in claim analysis were not optimal, other than that I found the WiseFlow tool very straightforward and easy to use.
For the real EQE I would not so sure, though. Having to read different documents you were not allowed to print in different tabs with no good option for annotations seems pretty horrible.
With respect to the questions I found them to be in line with previous exams. I am a bit disappointed though that after a very straightforward claim analysis in 2019, they reverted back to asking all kinds of arguably ambigous questions.
You can make many different arguments with respect to the (quite difficult) 123(2) questions of part 4, so they are not as unambiguous as it should be.
And asking a question about a wicked issue like a disclosed disclaimer? I realize it appears to be common wisdom that they are usually allowed, but I have not seen any unambiguous legal basis for that yet.
I am a little bit surprised there is no FP/RE remedy topic question this year. Maybe they knew everyone has prepared very well on that, so they chose not to test it?
ReplyDelete10 legal questions cannot cover all topics of the syllabus: they need to selecy a few from 178 EPC Articles, 165 EPC Rules, many PCT articles, even more PCT Rules, almost 100m pages of EPO Guidelines, and even more. And they sall not select the same each year.
DeleteI fully followed all steps to set up and test the system before the exam (participated in all mocks, worked with IT to meet all requirements, etc.). For some unknown reason, I was suddenly kicked out of the first part shortly before the end. This caused complete panic - luckily, I could contact the (very helpful - thank you!) invigilator. I managed to sign back in with 5 SECONDS left! I could only hand in. It was surprisingly stressful and I changed my approach to the remaining parts as a result, first quickly answering all questions without full consideration (simply to have answers recorded in case I got kicked out again), and then going through a second time. This was not a good approach but I was so worried about a crash recurrence (especially as there was no evident reason for it) that I did not know how else to go forward. I think that having to worry about technical issues sets the wrong stage for proper sitting of the exam. I would have no issue going to a local test center to sit a computer-implemented exam, where that test center would ensure a stable set-up. Placing part of the technical system burden on the candidate and having differing exam conditions as a result is, in my opinion, not fair.
ReplyDeleteDid the invigilator tell you why you were kicked out? Did you use a non-allowed keyboard shortcut our touchpad gesture?
DeleteNo, I did absolutely not!
DeleteSorry, typed too quickly...
DeleteThe examiner did not indicate why this had happened (honestly, I was only focused on getting back in!)
And no, I did not use any non-allowed shortcut. In fact, I believe that I was not even typing when it happened...
Maybe your computer started to do updates or a virus scan or another scheduled application?
DeleteCompany computer have those often scheduled without you being able to change it.
And if you used your private computer: did you pause/postpone updates and disable any virus scanner?
My first impression is, it was the most difficult pre-exam, especially the legal part and question based on G decisions. Claim analysis was definitely more complicated than in 2019 but not so complicated as in 2018. Claim analysis tested almost everything, ranges, selection from lists, unallowed generalization, disclaimers and confusing english wording... This is also evidenced by my result, according to the answers from the delta patent, I passed the test with a nice point reserve, but I expected to have many more points :)
ReplyDeleteI agree. I expected a fairly easy exam given the circumstances. Especially the second legal part was quite difficult for pre-exam standards. Not too many low hanging fruits like calculation of time limits or whether FP is available. Some questions in part 2 really required digging through the commentary or the guidelines to confirm the given answer.
DeleteThe claims part seemed reasonable to me. The questions were what you would expect from the previous years and the cases were rather short and simple.
Do not compare to 2019 or 2018. The pass rates for those were very differnt from the earlier papers (very high and very low). Compare to 2014/2015/2016/2017. Then quite similar difficulty.
DeleteP.
We have compiled a version of the full paper (in English); it is available via the link that I added to the blog post.
ReplyDeleteIn our version, the sequence of the questions and statements corresponds to the order used in this blog, as some of the candidates got them in the real exam; other candidates obtained the questions (in the legal parts) and the statements within a question (in the legal parts as well as in the claims analysis parts) in different order.
Really enjoyed taken it at home as some other users have said, a much more relaxed day in a familiar environment.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the claims analysis questions need work for future exams in this online format (if it continues), the three different languages especially meant for lots of scrolling between the question and the claims. It would be very easy to implement one exam for each language or at least collapsible sections for the languages that you aren't reading?
Reminder:
ReplyDeletePlease do not post your comments anonymously - it is allowed, but it makes responding more difficult and rather clumsy ("Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms Anonymous of 05-03-2021 16:56"), whereas using your real name or a pseudonym is more personal, more interesting and makes a more attractive conversation.
You do not need to log in or make an account - it is OK to just put your (nick) name at the end of your post.
Thanks!
Pretty hard legal part, especially the second part (Q.6-Q.10).
ReplyDeleteI could not use my own computer, as WISEflow is running only on Windows/Mac, but no Linux. :(
Dear all, check your 'myEQE' - mine shows a document titled "participation confirmation" which mentions that the results will be available "shortly"...Perhaps the wait is over?
ReplyDeleteI didn't get a separate email but my results just appeared in myEQE. I got two points more than what I expected based on the discussion here.. pretty pleased it's over!
DeleteLia
Some candidates informed me that the individual Pre-Exam results are available via MyEQE now).
ReplyDeleteThe Examiner's Report is not yet available, nor is a full list of marks which would allow to determine the pass rate.
The Examiner's Report is now available.
ReplyDeletehttp://documents.epo.org/projects/babylon/eponot.nsf/0/2A535758E13A497BC12586AA0034B56F/$FILE/ExRep_PreEx2021.pdf
Delete