Friday, November 12, 2021 Calendars for EQE 2022

In the past, calendars were provided to candidates as part of the D and Pre-Exam papers. Those integrated calendars did not necessarily cover all EPO closing days. This meant that some days, on which the EPO filing offices were actually closed (e.g., bridging days), were not always indicated as closing days in the exam calendars. Candidates had to answer the papers solely on the basis of the calendars in the examination papers (see former Notice from the Examination Board dd 18 July 2013).

For EQE 2022, the situation will be different, as candidates and tutors that use Wiseflow for the Mocks currently available may already have spotted. Instead of a calendar, Wiseflow provides a pdf with information about the calendars indicating:

Important notice for candidates: Use of calendars
 
For the EQE 2022 the basis for calculating time limits are the days on which the EPO filing offices are closed as published in the Official Journal. Candidates are encouraged to have the closing days of 2020, 2021 and 2022 at hand during the examination. No calendars will be provided with the examination papers.

The Examination Board also published a Notice to this effect - see Notice dated 19 November 2021. The Notice provides (emphasis added):

Calendars are a necessary tool for calculating time limits, in particular where Rule 134(1) EPC, first sentence, applies. According to this provision, time limits expiring on a day on which at least one EPO filing office is not open for receipt of documents (closing day) are extended until the first day thereafter on which all the filing offices are open for receipt of documents and on which ordinary mail is delivered.

As of the 2022 examination, the practice concerning calendars will change: calendars will no longer be provided to candidates as part of the examination papers for the pre-examination and Paper D.

A notice listing the dates on which the EPO filing offices are closed is published each year in the Official Journal. For the purposes of applying Rule 134(1), first sentence, EPC and Rule 80.5 PCT, candidates should refer to the relevant notice on EPO closing days. They will be able to access the EPO website for this during the exam.

Candidates are allowed to use their own calendar to identify dates falling on a Saturday or Sunday. 

This notice supersedes the notice from the Examination Board dated 18 July 2013 concerning the use of calendars.

 

Friday, August 20, 2021 Detailed time schedule EQE 2022 available (Pre, C and D split into parts) & Info on Mock exams available (updated 13 January 2022)

Late June 2022, a document titled "Information on the schedule for the EQE 2022 examination papers- decision of the Supervisory Board dated 25 June 2021" was been published in the EQE website. Note that the document says that "Candidates are advised that this document may be subject to minor changes as testing continues".

Update: The document has been replaced by a new version dated 2 December 2021:
the D paper section now indicates "No calendars will be provided" - see also our other blog post.

The EQE 2022 will take place online using the same setup as the EQE of 2021. The EQE 2022 is spread over 2 weeks, starting with the D paper on 8 March 2022 and ending with the Pre-Exam on 18 March 2022 (also see here).

As with e-EQE 2021, the pre-examination and both papers C and D will be split into parts. Note that the split of paper D 2022 (26/19/55), and hence the detailed time schedule, differs from that of D 2021 (25/25/50).

Details from the document are given below.

Tuesday, July 06, 2021 EQE 2021: the statistics are out!

The EQE secretariat has published statistics on EQE 2021:

Pre-Exam: 626 candidates, 87,38% pass, 12.62% fail

Paper A: 1905 candidates, 74,38% pass, 4,41 % compensable fail, 21,21 % fail

Paper B: 2005 candidates, 55,26 % pass, 10,02 % compensable fail, 34,71 % fail

Paper C: 1852 candidates, 47,08 % pass, 9,67 % compensable fail, 43,25 % fail

Paper D: 2003 candidates, 85,87 % pass, 5,89 % compensable fail, 8,24 % fail

A total of 2780 candidates enrolled to one or more main exam papers. 1093 candidates have fulfilled the conditions of Article 14(1) REE, i.e., have passed the EQE and can request to be entered on the list.

The pass rates for paper A and C are within the "normal bandwidth". The pass rates suggest that the marking has been somewhat lenient to "compensate" for the special circumstances of this year's EQE (in particular, cancellation of EQE 202 due to Covid-19; preparation via videoconferencing and self-study due to Covid-19 restrictions throughout the year; first online exam; relatively unknown platform; uncertainty). 

The pass rate for B is very low compared to earlier years; as may have been expected in view of the discussions on the paper, e.g., in the comments on the blogs, e.g. as to the deviating character of the paper (without one clear solution direction) and the unusual aspects despite the "same character as before" indication given in advance. 

The pass rate for D is very high due to the neutralization of D1-1, where all candidates received the full 25 marks of 25 marks, such that only 25 (20) marks had to be scored of the other 75 marks (25 D1 and 50 D2) to obtain a pass (compensable fail). No statistics is available on the effect of the neutralization, e.g., no statistics is available on the results without the neutralization, so that the effect of the 20% extra time and the effect of the D1:D2 ratio being 50:50 rather than the previous 40:60 cannot be estimated.

Unfortunately, no list of individual sores (marks vs EQEregnr) has been published, nor can it be expected that it will be published as our requests thereto have been denied, so that we cannot perform any analysis on the obtained marks, nor can we present the distribution of marks as we used to do on these blogs. 

The published statistics also show pass, compensable fail and fail rates by place of residency and by place of nationality of candidates.

Saturday, June 19, 2021 e-EQE 2021 Examiners' Reports available for the main exam papers

The Examiners' Reports are available for Paper A, for Paper B, for Paper C, and for Paper D!

The results (marks for candidates, pass rates and other statistics) are not yet available, neither publicly on the EQE website, nor via myEQE for individual candidates. It seems reasonable to expect that they will become available shortly (as in previous years, the results and the examiner's reports always became available shortly after each other; however, in previous years the results became available before the Examiners' Reports).

Update 21/6/2021: The results letter have been send to the candidates.

"The purpose of the present examiners' report is to enable candidates to prepare for future examinations (cf. Art. 6(6) of the Regulation on the European qualifying examination for professional representatives)."

The Examiner's Reports provide general comments to each of the papers, as well as the Possible Solutions for each and -for A, B and C- an indication of the marking.

The Examiner's Reports do not contain any comments as to the side-effects of the online format, nor whether that has somehow been reflected in the marking, except for the indication in the Examiners' Report of Paper C that: "The examination of 2021 was different from previous years in several aspects, the most important of which is that it was held online and that it was split in two parts. Technical aspects regarding the shift to an online exam are not part of this report".

Update 21/6/2021: The results letter send to candidates provides:

"Due to the technical issues that occurred during the first flow of part one of paper D of the electronic EQE of 2021, the Examination Board has decided to exceptionally neutralize this part of the examination. Therefore, the Examination Board has exceptionally awarded to all candidates full marks (25 marks) for the flow D1-1, which consisted of questions 1, 2 and 6."

The tables with marks attached to the results letters show the marks that were actually scored by the candidate (excluding the neutralization); the score shown in the letter itself includes the effect of the neutralization.  

Please be invited to provide your comments w.r.t. the Examiners’ Reports on our dedicated blogs for the various papers:

• Blog A 2021
• Blog B 2021
• Blog C 2021
• Blog D1-parts of D 2021
• Blog D2-part of D 2021

When commenting, please use your name or a nickname (you can choose to indicate a name at the header of the comment, or just put your (nock)name at the end of your comment), to facilitate a pleasant and efficient discussion.

Monday, May 10, 2021 e:EQE discussion paper

The epi-learning.org website (this item open access) and the epi Forum (epi members only) provide a discussion paper providing "a general concept of a new e:EQE for the future, not a detailed exam setup" (for -at the earliest- EQE 2024 and later). 

The paper has been made available to allow all epi members (not just members from the PEC and the Council) to comment on the paper. On the epi Forum, members are invited to comment before 30 May 2021.

In the Preamble of the paper, the paper indicates that:

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Qualifying Examination was held online in March 2021. Although the e:EQE in 2021 was not perfect, the EQE of 2022 and 2023 will have more or less the same structure. The format of the EQE can only be changed from 2024 at the earliest because any changes have to be written into the Regulations and the candidates must be informed well in advance. If changes are to be effected from 2024, it is now time to propose a new structure of the EQE.

As "General drivers and boundary values" the paper provides:

"Updating the EQE to a new model gives the possibility to make the exam fit for the future and more effective for both students and the profession.

When updating the EQE, it is important to maintain standard and avoid lowering the bar in an unacceptable way. Accordingly, candidates will still need to spend a lot of time studying for the EQE. However, the workload can be redistributed to better fit the candidates’ development by introducing a progressive learning roadmap which builds in complexity towards the final exams and subsequent qualification.

There is a strong desire amongst different stakeholders to move towards a multi-level modular approach instead of the current pre-exam followed by a 20-hour main examination condensed in one week.

It is also desired that each module does not exceed 2 hours.

On-the-job training, support and supervision by a qualified professional representative is retained as an essential element of the proposed alternative e:EQE setup. Additionally, the current minimum training period is retained but not necessarily as a requirement to sit the final exams."

The paper proposes a modular e:EQE setup (please refer to the complete paper for full details, as well as for a proposed resitting policy, mapping current EQE and proposed e-EQE, and transitional arrangements):

Tuesday, April 20, 2021 New dates for EQE 2022 - spread over 2 weeks and earlier than previously announced & Enrolment for EQE 2022 - EQE 2022 will be held online

 The dates for EQE 2022 have been published on the EQE website (Notices page), here (Notice of 19 April 2021),

The complete EQE does no longer take place in a single week (in 2011: Pre-Exam on Mon, D on Tue, A on Wed, B on Thu, C on Fri), but is spread over two weeks: the main exam papers on Tue and Thu, the Pre-Exam on Fri of the second week.

Compared to the earlier announcement of 15.11.2018 (wherein the EQE was planned from 21.03.2022 to 24.03.2022), the EQE 2022 starts two weeks earlier, with the D paper on 08.03.22. 

The Pre-Exam will take place after all main exam papers, rather than on the day before the main exam.

[Update 10 May 2021:] As e-EQE 2021, the EQE 2022 will be held online and can be taken at any suitable location chosen by the candidate.The examination system Wiseflow will be used (https://europe.wiseflow.net/) (See Announcement EQE 2022)

Note: the announcement of 15.11.2018 also already included dates for EQE 2023 (06.0.2023 - 09.03.2023); these will presumably also be changed.

----

Update 28 April 2021: 

Enrolment periods for EQE 2022 have been announced on the EQE website -> Enrolment. 

The webpage provides (no changes made, except added notes from the editor):

Saturday, March 13, 2021 e-EQE 2021 - emails from candidates to EQE Secretariat will be forwarded to the Examination Board

 

Tuesday, March 09, 2021 EQE goes digital - the official EPO news message

Yesterday, the EPO issues a news message on the website on the EQE. 

It was a major achievement to move from an EQE that is fully paper based -the exam papers as well as the material you can bring being only on paper, and a handwritten answer- with candidates sitting in about 8, some of them big, exam locations scattered around Europe - to an online e-EQE in a secured browser -the exam papers as pdfs and/or (in full or in part) onscreen, legal texts partially online, a typed answer in a basic editor, online invigilation-. 

But... the level of praise and the absence of reflection as to the growing pains and serious problems in the press release does not really feel justice to how candidates and tutors, as well as other stakeholders, have experienced the preparation phase and the exam itself. The message seems to have been drafted by a Public Relations department and it seems not to have been checked for the sensitivity of the issues that arose in the preparation of and during the exams, of the impact that such a message has on candidates, some of which feel that their voices and experiences have been ignored.

In particular, the press release downgrades the issue at D1-1 to "solved quickly within a few minutes". That does not really reflect the real situation where some candidates were affected for the whole of D1-1, at least, and where an additional 30 minutes was awarded but not received by all candidates (as a Flowlock browser refresh was needed to actually receive the 30 minutes), and where the break schedule was changed with a sever impact on the length of the lunch break (from planned 45 minutes to only 25)... I refer to our Good luck blog, our First impressions blog for many comments from candidates, as well as to our D1 blog.  Luckily, the Examination Board did react in a fast and appropriate way with a message on the e-EQE webpages, on the next day, with the guarantee that no candidate will be disadvantaged as a result during the marking process. , as is also indicated in the press release.

The Press Release is show below in full (no changes made):

EQE goes digital

8 March 2021

Nearly 4 000 candidates, 5 exams split over 11 flows, 130 exam pages in a choice of languages, 24 hours of examination in 5 days, 80 online invigilators, 400 people involved in preparations, a secured examination environment, and audio and image supervision: From 1 to 5 March, the EPO successfully held the inaugural e-EQE. For the first time ever, candidates sat the exam online at a place of their choice anywhere in the world.

Friday, February 26, 2021 Good luck to all EQE 2021 candidates!

We wish all candidates that sit one or more EQE papers next week good luck / bonne chance / gute Fahrt!

Our EQE blogs will be open for your comments and opinions w.r.t. the Pre-Exam, A, B, C and D shortly after the exams. We will post our (provisional) answers to the various papers shortly after the exam. To facilitate the discussions, we will also post copies of the papers as soon as possible after we received reasonably clean copies.

Do not post any comments as to the merits of the answers of a certain exam paper/flow on the blogs while an exam/flow is still ongoing. Also, do not post the invigilator password or anything else that may be considered the breach of the exam regulations, instructions to the candidates, code of conducts, etc (see, e.g.,  e-EQE website and the emails from the EQE secretariat).

All candidates, as well as tutors who helped candidates prepare for EQE 2021, are invited to contribute to the discussions on our EQE blogs! You can post your comments in English, French or German. You are invited to post your comments under your real name, but it is also possible to use a nickname if you wish to hide your identify.

The DeltaPatents team

Sunday, February 21, 2021 Donot forget your final system test: Mock 3 is this Tuesday, 23 Feb!

If you could not test your e-EQE setup with Mock 2, or you had trouble during Mock 2, do not forget to take the opportunity for a final system check on Tuesday 23 February!

Candidates received information about Mock 3 in an email from 12 February 2021. That email indicated that the flow information email from Wiseflow for Mock 3 will be sent on 22 February.

If you run into problems due to lack of admin privileges (e.g., when using a company computer), it is recommended to have another computer (e.g., your private laptop or desktop) available for Mock 3. You can then switch to your private computer if it fails on your company computer - and then use our private computer for the real e-EQE. Use Mock 3 to test what works best for you!! 

Refer to our earlier blog on Mock 3 here if you want to have more tips and want to post comments. 

You may also wish to check:

• our other blog posts on Mock 2 in the blogs for the specific papers (Pre-Exam, A, B, C, D),
• our blog post on Mock 1, 
• our blog posts on the e-EQE requirements, 
• our blog posts on the FAQs (here and here), information sessions and  Information on the schedule,
• our earlier blog posts on our EQE blog. 

If you wish to comment on Mock 3, please post your comments to our Mock 3 blog.

Friday, February 12, 2021 Calendars for EQE 2021 (Pre-Exam and paper D) available

 The Calendars for EQE 2021 (Pre-Exam and paper D) are available on the EQE website (here):

• calendar for Pre-Exam 2021 - calendars of years 2020 and 2021
• calendar for Paper D 2021 - calendars of years 2019, 2020 and 2021

Also, the Notice of 18 July 2013 from the Examination Board on the Use of calendars in Paper D and Pre-examination has been re-published on the same page, to remind candidates that:

• For the Pre-examination and Paper D, calendars will continue to be provided to candidates as part of the examination papers and will continue to be a correct calendar for the respective year (e.g. 1st January 2014 will be a Wednesday).
• However, the calendars might not necessarily cover all EPO closing days. This means that some days, on which the EPO filing offices are actually closed, might not be indicated as closing days in the calendars.
• Comment from the blog editor: especially so-called Bridging days are usually not provided in the EQE calendars; but also some closure days due to national/local holidays in Munich, The Hague or Berlin are sometimes not present. So never rely on your own knowledge, but use the EQE calendars when answering.
• For future examinations, candidates shall answer the papers solely on the basis of the calendars in the examination papers.

You can download and print the calendars already now and put them with your EQE reference materials!

Thursday, February 11, 2021 e-EQE 2021: Mock 3 on 23 February

 In today's Virtual Classroom session on e-EQE 2021, it was announced that there will be a Mock 3:

• On 23 February
• 1 main exam flow (morning)
• 1 pre-exam flow (afternoon)
•  Purpose:  allow final test of equipment
• Will include camera, invigilation, ZenDesk.
• They are not new papers to do; the aim is just to test the system
• Invitation will be send to all candidates in time - do not send any request to the EQE helpdesk

Click on "Read more" for:

• Text of email from EQE secretariat about Mock 3
• Updated information on e-EQE website

Thursday, January 28, 2021 Requirements for the e-EQE 2021 [Updated 20/02/2021]

 A document "Requirements for the e-EQE 2021" has been published on the e-EQE website today, together with a new User Guide and new Tips for candidates.

In today's (28/01/2021) information session it was indicated that there will also be new "Instructions to the candidates". Nothing special is to be expected with respect to the changes - the changes are what follows naturally from the switch from an exam hall exam to the e-EQE.

[Update 20/02/2021]: 
The e-EQE website has been updated with:

• New "Instructions to candidates concerning the conduct of the EQE 2021"
• new "Code of conduct for the e-EQE" 

to replace and supplement parts of OJ 2019, Suppl 2 Regulation on the European qualifying examination for professional representatives.

Also note the document "Step by step to the e-EQE" on the e-EQE website,

Thursday, January 28, 2021 FAQ e-EQE extended [blog post updated 1/3/2021]

 The e-EQE FAQ on the EPO website has been extended with new information. Also, a new User Guide and new Tips for candidates have been published.

The new information in the FAQ addresses:

• Should I use my corporate or my private environment?
• Will I get the invigilator password?
• How do I contact the support team in case of difficulties during the EQE?
• Do I need Zendesk?
• I did not manage to take my picture in the flow “Reference photo with ID/passport”. Am I allowed to sit the EQE?
•  Am I allowed to use keyboard shortcuts, special keys combinations, such as Alt+Tab, and touchpad gestures in the LockDown browser?
• Should my screensaver or screen lock be de-activated?
• Do I have access to the legal texts in electronic form?
• How can I indicate text in paper B which is deleted or added?
• For paper C, will I be able to see my answer to the first part during the second part?
• Since the opposition form has been abolished, how can I provide the required information in my answer?

The new information is cited below in full (emphasis added; formatted). For the complete FAQ, we refer to the e-EQE FAQ itself.

Updated 02/2021 - Should I use my corporate or my private environment?

Corporate computers and networks often have a strict security policy.
In this respect, some candidates have experienced issues

• with the LockDown Browser (e.g. interruption of flow, limited Zendesk functionality), 
• with the use of camera and microphone or 
• with the reliability of the network connection used by the LockDown Browser and IP address issues.

To mention some elements to be checked (list non-exhaustive): 

• software rights management; 
• screen or power savers; 
• automatic system or software updates; 
• hardware rights management for camera or microphone; 
• virus scanners; 
• change of IP addresses in corporate networks; 
• firewalls security configurations.

If you experience issues during the mock examinations, which cannot be solved, it is strongly advised to either contact your IT department to solve the issues within your corporate IT Policy or most advisable is to use another (private) computer or network.

Friday, January 15, 2021 Information from the training sessions "The 2021 e-EQE" on 14 January 2021

 

Yesterday, two e-EQE Virtual classrooms were organized by the Academy/EPO/epi. (see annoucement)

• The first session targeted candidates and tutors; the second session was for tutors only. The session has been recorded and will be available on the EQE website soon.
       Update 18/1/2021: the recording is now available on the e-EQE website.
  
  
• It was announced that there will be two more session like this, for further questions (end Jan [28-1-link]; mid Feb [11/2-link]). Also, the online information will be updated.

Candidates are all strongly advised to test the e-EQE platform with Mock 1 and Mock 2 well before the exam.

• Check the e-EQE webpage, regularly! https://www.epo.org/learning/eqe/e-eqe.html  
• Only about 1/3 has opened the flows of Mock 1… important to check the flows and the system!
• Check the tips from the documents on the e-EQE website!
• Check the FAQ in the EQE website!

In the session, many questions were answered, confirming what is already in the FAQ or adding some more detail. The following topics may be worth to mention.