EPO News message "European qualifying examination 2023 completed"
Today, the EPO published the News message show below (no changes made, except for emphasis added):
European qualifying examination 2023 completed
23 March 2023 This year's European qualifying examination (EQE) ran from 6 to 13 March [note from the blog editor: actually, from 7 to 17 March 2023]. In total, 2 148 candidates of 58 nationalities participated and almost 40% of candidates were women. All in all, the four papers that each candidate can sit, plus the pre-exam paper, last a combined total of 24 hours and are simultaneously available in German, English and French.
This year's European qualifying examination (EQE) ran from 6 to 13 March [note from the blog editor: actually, from 7 to 17 March 2023]. In total, 2 148 candidates of 58 nationalities participated and almost 40% of candidates were women. All in all, the four papers that each candidate can sit, plus the pre-exam paper, last a combined total of 24 hours and are simultaneously available in German, English and French.
Since the digital EQE was introduced in 2021, candidates have been able to write electronic exam papers from anywhere. As in previous years, a large team of invigilators oversaw the 2023 examination and addressed the queries of candidates, who also benefited from recent technical improvements to the secure digital exam environment and three levels of support. Tailored adjustments were made for any special needs. The answer papers will now be assessed by the 300 members of the joint EPO-epi examination committees.
A mark of the highest quality
As a requirement to represent clients before the European Patent Office, the EQE is a mark of the highest quality for the European patent system, the patent attorney profession and for all those who pass the examination, including many EPO examiners.
Currently, the EQE is undergoing an important development. After a broad consultation and consensus-building process commencing in 2021, the EPO and epi are now preparing for a new era: a revamped European qualifying examination has been designed, taking on board the contributions from industry, the profession and training institutions. Adapted for a rapidly changing digital environment, the new EQE will retain the vast expertise accumulated over the past four decades at the same time as reflecting modern work conditions and assessment methodologies.
New EQE Consultation https://www.epo.org/learning/eqe/new-eqe.html was 2022, not 2021?
ReplyDelete"The consultation was launched in the second half of May [2022]. To be able to access the model papers, please register via the link under "Model papers" below. Feedback will be collected by means of a questionnaire until 31 August 2022"
The idea and first consultations have been launched already in May 2021
ReplyDeleteThe EQE is a complete disgrace and intranparent. The examining division is completly incompentent and cannot even manage to provide the same exam in all three languages as there are almost always translation discrapancies and errors. Further, the examiners reports often contain (legal) errors in violation with the exam regulations. In particular, B2021 and A2022 were terrible and inacceptable.
ReplyDeletePlease delete your message and reformulate it in decent and fair terms if you want to make a point. Blogs are not meant to post impolite and unfair comments, certainly not if you are not open as to your identity.
DeleteI can agree on the fact that EPO is a mark of high(est) quality of international IP, but as sitter of pre-exam and main exam of last past EQE I have to say that, in my opinion, it was a mark of the lowest quality.
ReplyDeletePlease keep that opinion to yourself. We LOVE the EQE and the EPO!
DeleteNo mate, I live in a free EPO contracting state and I feel free to express my opinion, if you don't mind...
DeleteRoby, asinus asinum fricat
DeleteRoel, this is on your answer below to someone else suggesting to erase the automatic term "Anonymous" as posting option. As you can see from the above, there are some people who are taking this the wrong way.
DeleteI fully agree with allowing, in particular candidates waiting for their marks, to post in a way that the public cannot track them down. But this strange "reciting" above is also not OK. How about erasing the suggestion "Anonymous" and forcing people to fill in at least one letter into an empty name field? It might put a minimal threshold of independent thinking for those people who copy from their poetry books (see Paper C comments) or school Latin (see directly above) books.
@Gabriele: Put a minimal threeshold of independent thinking sounds very bad.
DeleteThey are singing their own praises.
ReplyDelete"I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it."
Delete- Voltaire
Well, it would have been very interesting also to see attached to this one-sided statement a satisfactory report data collected by candidates who sat EQE.
DeleteDoes anyone know when will the score of pre-exam 2023 released? I note that there is a deadline of 15 May 2023 for enrollment of pre-exam 2024. I took pre-exam 2023; If I fail the pre-exam 2023, I need to enroll for pre-exam 2024 and I do not want to miss the enrollment deadline of 15 May 2023. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMay.
DeleteIn the previous years, it took around 20 to 30 days. Now it's already more than 20 days so I expect it to come within few days.
DeleteIndeed, 2022: exam date 18/3/2022, results out: 8/4/2022. Enrolment main exam opened 3 April, so many expected the results shortly thereafter. Now one week further, no results yet. Also tutors are getting impatient.
Delete@Anonymous 13 April 2023 at 14:16 (please use a name or nickname!):
As to EQE 2024 enrolment: main exam deadline is beginning of September.
As to Pre-Exam 2024 enrolment: if it would take that long to get the results out, one can expect that enrolment period will be extended for those that failed Pre-Exam 2023. But I surely hope that the results will come within a few days and we do not need to wait a lot longer!
Please use your name, or a nickname, when posting a comment. It is difficult to distinguish all these Anonymous-es ... ;)
ReplyDeleteMaybe we need to just delete the anonymous function and remain the nickname version only? Since as long as anonymous function is there, people would prefer this.
DeleteThx for the suggestion. We try to make it as easy-to-use as possible, and hence have the option for anynomous-posting (while asking you to put your name or nickname at the bottom) and also have no moderation before a comment becomes visible. We may reconsider when things get too anonymous...
DeleteWhen should we expect results this year? Before Christmas pheraphs?
ReplyDeleteAfter Christmas of next year
DeleteDoes anyone know when the pre-exam results will be released? Since 2013 the results have *always* been released at the latest precisely 1 month after the exam (2014) and usually less, often much less. This year a month has elapsed already and there is silence from the EPO.
ReplyDeletePlease wait longer.
DeleteDoes anyone know if the EPO still carries out the candidate survey? I see from the archive page on the EQE website that the last time the results of the candidate survey were published was in 2019.
ReplyDelete- Anon-survey
In 2021 and 2022, there were surveys, which were basically multiple choice in terms of "Did you find the exam good or excellent?" and "Were you happy that we offered some form of exam, or were you very happy, very excited... about it"? From 2021, I also remember that there was no open comment field in relation to any specific question, which would have required detailed feedback from the candidates, i.e., there were only the preselected positive comment options in many cases.
DeleteI think, in 2022, I forgot to fill in the questionnaire on time as I was expecting a similarly drafted set.
The press release seems like an extension of this scheme by not allowing any comments.
I read on Salted Patent blog that EQE examination board received about 900 complaints filed after the exam 2022 that leaded to a delay on results too. I filed too a formal complaint for techical issues that cost me the paper but it was not considered. I think that any further survey would have been useless.
DeleteWhat I found very annoying and irritating in the EQE committe's answer is to be considered like a cheater who's trying to get undue advantage.
In all fairness, on why shouldn't the committee consider you as a cheater who's trying to get undue advantage? Provide your reasons.
DeleteI would expect less complaints this year than last year, but do not know how many.
DeleteMany candidates have some experience with Wiseflow from earlier years and the Compendium flows have been available with multiple papers per exam paper for several months, so that candidates could familiarize themselves quite well and -where handware was an issue- get their setup in good order.
Also, at the Tutor Meeting on EQE 2021, Nicolas Favre (Examination Board) indicated that more than 12% of the EQE 2021 candidates had not taken part in any of the Mocks and had not tested the exam platform prior to the exam! He strongly recommends all candidate to test the system and settings, and that special care needs to be taken with respect to virus scanner and automatic updates (which the lockdown browser will detect as unauthorized activities) [see epi Information 4/2021] - the importance to test things well in advance should have resulted in this percentage having gone down. Also, Wiseflow was documented for, e.g., the 2022 EQE, and tutors had experience with it - see also the Tutor's Report in epi Information 4/2022.
Despite all of this, and even with good preparation and testing, things may have gone wrong and complaints will have been filed, also this year.
In the Tutor's meeting on the EQE 2022, we summarized the procedure:
"Complaints and appeals
As to complaints and appeals, Nicolas Fabre indicated that the Examination Board looks at each and every complaint [Rule 19(3) IPREE; OJ 2022, A20, item I.8] and appeal [Article 24(3), 1st sentence REE (in OJ 2019, SE3]. Each appeal is intensively discussed on case-by-case by the Examination Board before deciding on interlocutory revision or not. Complaints
are discussed in groups. Complaints are often difficult to handle because they are often not complete – presumably because they need to be submitted soon after the exam; better documentation of the situation is often required"
Note that this year's standardized complaints forms had the aim to make the process more efficient by, in particular, having more complete information on every complaint.
The other issue is that candidates are given only the end of the day to submit and provide all evidence. This seems very unfair especially after a 6-7 hour exam. They need to give candidates more time to gather their evidence. 24 hours seems fair to me.
DeleteHi Jackson,
DeleteNote that the complaints are NOT meant to discuss interpretations of questions and alike, but need to relate to "the conduct of the pre-examination": most (if not all) of those type of complaints shall be possible within a few hours, donot you think?
Rule 19(3) IPREE still specifies the complaints situation when the exam was a handwritten exam in exam halls: "Complaints concerning the conduct of the pre-examination or the examination shall not be entertained by the Examination Board unless a written statement of the facts is submitted to the chief invigilator at the latest 30 minutes after the closing signal has been given on the final day of the examination." Complaints at that time could e.g. relate to the temperature in the exam hall, external disturbances from building work, ... And had to be filed within 30 minutes after the end of the paper.
Now, for EQE 2023, the "Instructions to candidates concerning the conduct of the European qualifying examination" dd December 2022, item I.8 provides for more time: "Candidates wishing to lodge a complaint concerning the conduct of the examination must do so at the latest by the end of the day on which the paper concerned takes place, by filling in the dedicated form made available by the Examination Secretariat." For complaints concerning the conduct of the exam, that gives more time than before. They could now w.e.g relate to unexpected technical issues (despite good preparation), non-availability of the paper at the start (D1.1 in 2021), ... As before, Rule 19(4) IPREE provides: "(4) Any decision taken by the Examination Board pursuant to this rule shall be based upon ALL the available evidence, reasoned and issued in writing.": ALL evidence includes -in my view- not just what you explicitly submit with the complaint, but also what you submit subsequently (the Rule does not requires all evidence to be submitted with the complaint) as well as what the EQE organization has available, e.g. from contacts with the invigilator, Wiseflow log files, ... So, if you would have considered too little time to be available, you could have filed the complaint the best you could, and supplemented that thereafter - if good reasons for these later supplements, they will -in my opinion- nornally be considered.
By the way, I vaguely remember that there has been a decision from the DBA that considered an appeal filed directed to the conduct of the exam without having filed a complaint not admissible or not allowable (Unfortunately, I could not find the case number now).
But why the end of the day and not 24 hours? 24 hours would also not cause such a delay... and could give some relief for those that experienced some issues and needed to recover first... You can consider to propose that in an email to the EQE secretariat?
I would have to (slightly) disagree with this view. Exams are now held online and more critical things could go wrong such as a sudden loss of internet and power cuts that can last for several hours (as happened in the UK during winter). If a candidate suddenly loses power/internet for the whole day (a realistic scenario), it will give the candidate at least an opportunity to come into their offices or find a location with power/internet the next day to submit their complaint. Furthermore, the candidate would need to supply evidence of power cut, when it took place, contact their local internet provider etc... It's putting undue burden on candidates to quickly do everything on the day.
DeleteI don't see a huge difference between "end of the day" and allowing 24 hours to submit complaints.
I will propose the "24 hour" time limit to submit complaints to the EPO Sect Roel. Thanks.
Delete
ReplyDeletePre-Exam 2023 candidates just received an email from the EQE secretariat informing them the following:
Subject: EQE - Pre-Examination
Dear candidate,
Please be informed that the deadline for enrolment to the pre-examination 2024 has been extended until 30 June 2023. The results for the pre-examination 2023 will be available in mid-May.
Sehr geehrte Bewerberin, sehr geehrter Bewerber,
bitte beachten Sie, dass die Frist fĆ¼r die Anmeldung zur VorprĆ¼fung 2024 bis zum 30. Juni 2023 verlƤngert wurde. Die Ergebnisse der VorprĆ¼fung 2023 werden Mitte Mai verfĆ¼gbar sein.
Cher(e) candidat(e),
Nous vous informons que la date limite d'inscription Ć l’examen prĆ©liminaire 2024 est prolongĆ©e jusqu'au 30 juin 2023. Les rĆ©sultats de l’examen prĆ©liminaire 2023 seront disponibles Ć la mi-mai.
Best regards / Mit freundlichen GrĆ¼Ćen / SincĆØres salutations
European Qualifying Examination EQE
European Patent Office
The Examiner's Report for Pre-Exam 2023 is out!
ReplyDeleteSo, you can compare your answers and get an indication of your marks - be careful as the sequence of the statements within questions is different from that in our blog posts, and hence possibly also different to your's!
(Only) two statements were neutralized: 5.3 (needed a 2024 calendar) and 16.3 (in our version 16.1).
Statement 14.4 in part 3, for which we gave arguments for T (official answer) as well as for F, was not neutralized.
The statements in part 4 relying on the interpretation of "water-based solvent" being "just water" (and hence direct and unambiguous disclosures of %w/w of water) or "a solvent based on water also including something more" (and hence no such direct disclosure) were not neutralized - see 17.4, 18.3 and 20.1.
We refer to our blogs for the respective parts for discussion:
http://pre-exam.blogspot.com/2023/03/pre-exam-2023-our-answers-to-legal.html
http://pre-exam.blogspot.com/2023/03/pre-exam-2023-part-3-cleaning-utensils.html
http://pre-exam.blogspot.com/2023/03/pre-exam-2023-part-4-erasable-inks-our.html
I finally got the results, and passed :) Thanks for the Pre-Exam distance course. I may have not been the best of students, but I tried to do all "mandatory" exercises/homework and it seems to have have helped me quite a bit. Great stuff, thank you!.
DeleteCongrats Magnus! š„
DeleteAnd it was a pleasure to have you in our course!
I have just been informed by several candidates that the results are finally out!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to all that passed!
Today, candidates received the following email from the EQE secretariat:
ReplyDelete“ Subject: EQE 2023 Pre-examination - Communication from the Examination Board
Dear candidate,
We would like to inform you that after the release of the pre-examination results on 10 May 2023, we have encountered some discrepancies between the results communicated and what was to be expected in view of the Examiners’ Report. Upon conducting a thorough investigation, we have successfully identified the source of the issue, which is of a technical nature. Please be informed that the problem has been solved.
As a consequence, the results have been recalculated and must be re-issued. Therefore, the decision of the Examination Board concerning your result of the pre-examination 2023 communicated to you on 10 May 2023 is hereby revoked. A new decision based on the correct result is now available in myEQE.
Best regards / Mit freundlichen GrĆ¼Ćen / SincĆØres salutations
The Examination Secretariat
on behalf of the Examination Board”
Please post any comments with regards to this email to:
Deletehttp://pre-exam.blogspot.com/2023/05/pre-exam-2023-results-and-examiners.html
so that the comments are not scattered over various posts.
Especially, it will be interesting to hear whether anyone got from an initial pass to a fail. I would expect that the latter did not happen: I would rather expect that that it you initially scored 70 and got a pass, they would have kept you at pass, even if your corrected score was below 70, e.g., 68. Was that the case? If so, conformation would be appreciated, and report of any event to the contrary even more.
Does anyone have any idea when the EQE results will be published?
ReplyDeleteLast year, it was 6 July (http://eqe-deltapatents.blogspot.com/2022/07/eqe-2022-results-available-main-exam.html) after EQE on 8-17 March 2022.
DeleteIn 2021, it was 21 June (http://eqe-deltapatents.blogspot.com/2021/06/e-eqe-2022-examiners-reports-available.html) after EQE on 1-5 March 2021.
But results from the past are no guarantee for the future - for the Pre-Exam it took 2 months rather than 3-4 weeks, and another 2 weeks to issue corrected results letters...
The confirmation of participation in MyEQE says "in July". I am really hoping it's more "by July" but I'm not getting my hopes up. Just fed up of waiting.
DeleteLinkedIn was crazy last year with speculation and rumours. I'm sure things will heat up over there in the next couple of weeks.
Rumours swirling over here: https://twitter.com/Article22REE
DeleteSo funny
DeleteMy heart just skipped a beat! Nicely done! Still not July though.
DeleteI'm pretty sure that Examination Committee will publish our results in 2 months according to A121/R135
ReplyDeleteresults are out
ReplyDeleteresults are out!
ReplyDelete