Useful Links

Here are some lists of resources you might find useful, whether you’re a total newbie to the patent profession or preparing to sit your Final Exams. If you’ve come across a book, website or course which you found particularly useful, let us know and we’ll add it here.

You may also like to read the Informals’ Handbook for Trainee Patent Attorneys, which is available to download here. This is a fantastic guide, if we do say so ourselves! The handbook comprises introductions to CIPA, the Informals, IPReg, PEB and EPI, and the UK and European examination systems (and the key differences between them). It also provides lists of useful resources for day-to-day work and for examination preparation. We hope this guide will help trainees make sense of the profession and the qualification process, and to understand how the Informals and CIPA can help them. We also hope that trainers will find this handbook useful.

Resources for UK Exam Preparation and day-to-day UK work:

The Patent Examination Board (PEB) Foundation and Advanced past papers and answers – here.
If you’re taking FD1(P2), you might like to join Doug Ealey’s FD1 / P2 Study Guide group on LinkedIn, which has information on when the new version of the study guide is released and allows students to discuss past paper questions with each other.
The JDD Consultants run revision courses to help prepare for all UK papers – see here for more information – other courses exist for specific exams, such as Phil Barnes’ FD4 Revision course (author of CIPA FD4 Study Guide).
CIPA’s Patents Training Manual is a very useful and highly recommended resource, it’s a great starter for 10 into what youll be doing as a patent attorney and explains most things you’ll come into contact with concisely and simply. It also has a training planner you and your trainer can use as a guide and complete.
CIPA publications for the Advanced papers: Doug Ealey’s Study Guide to the Patents Act (FD1); Iain Russel’s Amendment of Specifications Paper (FD2), CIPA FD3 Study Guide; and Phillip Barnes’ Infringement and Validity, CIPA FD4 Study Guide. All available here.
The Manual of Patent Practice – the UKIPO’s version of the Guidelines for Examination. A fantastic resource that has a summary of relevant case law and how to implement the Patents Act for various topics.

Resources for EQE Preparation and day-to-day EP and PCT work:

e-EQE 2021 Calendars (by Zsofia Pintz), here.
Information on the EQE including the compendium of past papers, enrolment dates and enrolment web portal can be found on the EPO website here.
Sign-up for the EQE Coffee Break questions.
Sign up to the EPO ran Pre-EQE/EQE training courses here.
The IP.appify team have the EPC.app and PCT.app self-editable commentaries on the EPC and PCT, respectively. These can be found here. Users can edit the already provided commentary with their own notes during revision and order the book printed so it can be taken with you into the EQE exams.
The Salted Patent blog can be accessed here. Which is an invaluable resource on all things EQE training and preparation.
The Delta Patents team have a very useful and comprehensive blog here for the pre-exam and the main exams, including their answers to exam papers before the official answers are released.
CEIPI run various courses to prepare students for the pre-exam and main EQEs.
The JDD Consultants run revision courses to help prepare for all EQEs – see here for more information.
The Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary University of London runs a two-part course for candidates who are preparing for the main exam (see here for the EQE 2018-19 course)
The European Patent Institute (EPI) website has useful information on preparing for the EQEs, as well as the rules and regulations regarding enrolment for the exams.
The Cross-Referenced Patent Cooperation Treaty book.
The Delta Patents Main Exam Questions for Paper D book. There are also books available for Papers A to C, as well as for the Pre-Examination.
The C-Book fourth edition, William Chandler and Hugo Meinders, which was reviewed in the 2014 July CIPA Journal
Case Law of the Boards of Appeal
An up-to-date copy of Visser (new editions are usually published in Nov/Dec each year) or Hoekstra
EPC Guidelines
EPO Rules relating to fees
National Law relating to the EPC
Ancillary Regulations to the EPC
The PCT Applicant’s Guide (International and National phase)

Salary Surveys

Whether you’re new to the profession or have just passed some exams, check out the market rate for someone at your level:

Sacco Mann 2019 Salary Survey
Fellows & Associates 2019 Salary Survey
Dawn Ellmore 2019 Salary Survey

Bournemouth 2022 Resources 🙂

Thanks for listening to my talk, here are some resources which you may find useful. Note, that I can’t guarantee that the information is up-to-date, so you’ll need to check that yourself (e.g. trademarks…!)

IIPP litigation question points

IIPP patent question points

Summary of acts

Revision flash cards

[Erratum: the UK deadlines timetable in the IIPP patent question points document incorrectly states that you can get a 2-month extension on form PF52 for late declaration of priority. This is not the case – Schedule 4 part 1 states that late declaration of priority cannot be extended.]

– Courtesy of Thomas Mercer @ HGF Sheffield.