Pre-Exam 2014: overview (paper, first impression, legal part, claims analysis part, further training)

A copy of the Pre-Exam 2014 paper is available from our website:
First impressions about the Pre-Exam 2014 paper are provided at the thread:
Our answers are posted in two separate threads for the two parts:
Please post your comments to the respective parts and specific questions and statements to the respective blogs.

Although we believe that the answers that we have provided are correct, there may be one, two or three different from what the Exam Committee considers to be correct (in particular in the Claims Analysis Part). So, when comparing your answer with our answers and conclude where you passed, failed or are around the pass/fail level, take some safety margin ;-)

Further training
(click "Read more)"

Preliminary answers to the Claims Analysis Part of Pre-Exam 2014

Before checking your own answers with the provisional answers given below, please first check out on the thread  First impressions?  for general questions and comments about Pre-Exam 2014, and post your first impressions there.
The legal part is addressed in a separate thread: Preliminary answers to the Legal Part of Pre-Exam 2014

The claims analysis part seemed quite well doable. The description of the application (page 12-15) may have suggested a higher level of difficulty than the actual difficulty of the questions/statements.

Our preliminary answers (full agreement between three of us at DeltaPatents) are:

Q.11: T, T, T, T; 
Q.12: F, F, F, F;
Q.13: T, T, F, T;
Q.14: F, T, F, T;
Q.15: F, F, F, F;
Q.16: T, F, T, T*;
Q.17: T, F, T, F;
Q.18: F, F, F, T;
Q.19**: F, F, F, F;
Q.20: T, F, F, F;

*Statement 16.4: who ever expected disclaimers in the Pre-Exam?

**For Q.19, correct answers rely on a correct closest prior art determination. The closest prior art is D2 (same field, most similar purpose).

Detailed comments, legal basis and key considerations will be added to this blog in due course.

Any comments to the claims analysis part, and in particular any dissenting opinions, are highly appreciated! 
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 24-02-2014 17:54"), whereas using your real name or a pseudonym is more personal, more interesting and makes a more attractive conversation.

Roel, Nico, Sander

© Copyright DeltaPatents, 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this answer may be reproduced, used in any way for generating further course material or updates, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written consent of DeltaPatents.
The answer is made available for personal use only.

Preliminary answers to the Legal Part of Pre-Exam 2014

Before checking your own answers with the provisional answers given below, please first check out on the thread  First impressions?  for general questions and comments about Pre-Exam 2014, and post your first impressions there.
The Claims Analysis part is discussed in a separate thread: Preliminary answers to the Claims Analysis Part of Pre-Exam 2014

To my surprise, in this year's Pre-Exam, the legal part had only 2 statements (out of 40) relating to the PCT (statement 1.4 and 9.3). This does not really do justice to the success of the PCT and the actual PCT-to-EP-direct ratio that the EPO has to deal with in real life, but I am quite sure that this low fraction was highly appreciated by the candidates ;-)

My preliminary answers (not yet thoroughly reviewed) are:

Q.1:  F, T, T, T;
Q.2:  F, F, T, F;
Q.3:  F, T, T, F;
Q.4:  F, F*, T, T;
Q.5:  F, F, T, F;
Q.6:  T, F, F, F;
Q.7:  F, F, F, T**;
Q.8:  F, T***, T, T;
Q.9:  T, T, F, T;
Q.10: F, F, F, F.

Any different opinions are welcome! Please post your opinions as comments to this blog, so everybody can from the discussion.
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 24-02-2014 17:54"), whereas using your real name or a pseudonym is more personal, more interesting and makes a more attractive conversation.

For comments, legal basis and key considerations: click to read more.

First impressions?

To all who sat the Pre-Exam today:

What are your first impressions? Any general or specific comments?
Were the topics well balanced?
Was the Pre-Exam more difficult than in 2012 and in 2013?
Were the Legal Questions difficult?
Were the Claims Analysis Questions difficult?
How many marks do you expect to have scored?
What is your expectation of the pass rate and the average score?

We look forward to your comments.
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 24-02-2014 17:54"), whereas using your real name or a pseudonym is more personal, more interesting and makes a more attractive conversation.
Please post your comments as to first and general impressions to the Pre-Exam as a whole, and to the two parts (Legal; Claims Analysis) to this blog.

Our (preliminary) answers are posted in two separate threads for the two parts:
Preliminary answers to the Legal Part of Pre-Exam 2014, and
Preliminary answers to the Claims Analysis Part of Pre-Exam 2014
Please post your comments as specific questions and statements to the respective blogs.

A copy of the Pre-Exam 2014 paper (nicely colored by one of our candidates) is available from our website: Pre-Exam 2014 - Exam Paper: enjoy!!!




Good luck tomorrow (24 February 2014)!!!

We wish all Pre-Exam 2014 candidates good luck at tomorow's Pre-Exam.

Make sure to score more than 70 marks to pass, and feel invited to check out our Main Exam training program starting as from May with Advanced D Legal Training (in NL only) and with Methodology Courses for all papers as from September at course locations all across Europe, as well as Guided Exam courses in December/January and our correction paper program for all papers.

If you pass the Pre-Exam but your Basic Legal knowledge was not really at the required level, we also offer an 8-day Basic Legal Training (in 3 blocks of 4, 2 and 2 days) at our course venue in Eindhoven (NL).
This 8-day, 3-block course is scheduled twice: a first course group starting in late March (21/3-3/4, 2-3/6 and 8-9/9) to allow main exam 2015 candidates to complete the Basic Legal Course before enrolling in the main exam methodology courses, and a second course group starting in September (15-18/9, 3-4/11, 15-16/12) to allow pre-exam 2015 candidates to do a complete legal training starting only after summer.

The details of all courses can be found on our website under "IP Courses"

Dates and times EQE 2015-2017 have been announced

The Exam Secretariat announced the dates and times of the exam papers of EQE 2015, 2016 and 2017:

EQE 2015: 23.02.2015 – 26.02.2015
EQE 2016: 29.02.2016 – 03.03.2016
EQE 2017: 06.03.2017 – 09.03.2017