Wednesday, December 16, 2015 Read the Instructions To Candidates before going to the EQE 2016

A number of candidates seem unfamiliar with the Regulations on the EQE (REE), and in particular with the Instructions to candidates concerning the conduct of the EQE.

In 2015, there were some breaches of the REE with unfortunate consequences:

• Many candidates add names or initials to their answer paper – this is very disruptive to the EC’s because it has to be manually removed before marking to preserve anonymity.
• A candidate wrote the complete answer on the blank (back) sides of the EQE paper. After copying the sheets, only blank pages were submitted for marking, and the candidate was awarded 0 points. So only write on the lined side of the EQE paper provided. 
• A candidate kept writing after the stop signal was given, even after being warned. The EB decided to subtract 5 points for this breach of the rules. In future, writing after the stop signal may be more strictly enforced. 
• Some candidates were surprised that they were not permitted to have their phones with them. The rules concerning electronic devices are strict – candidates may not take any device, such as a telephone, tablet or smart watch, into the examination hall - even if turned off. They should be left at home or in the hotel. Although some examination centers may provide an envelope or lockers, these can be limited in number and should not be relied on.

Don't be surprised: read the latest version of the REE (found on the EPO’s EQE page here).

Wednesday, December 16, 2015 Tutors' Report on EQE 2015 Papers

To help candidates and tutors learn more about the 2015 papers, and to give some tips for EQE 2016, Pete Pollard edits this report every year after the EQE Tutor Meeting in October, using the input from several experienced tutors.

This year, some more details are also given about the combined A and B papers to be introduced with EQE 2017.

It has been published in the latest edition of epi information (pages 134-142). An extract of the report only is available here.


From DeltaPatents, Pete Pollard summarised the D and Pre-Exam Paper discussions, and Jelle Hoekstra summarised the C Paper.

Friday, July 17, 2015 Examiner's reports Main Exam papers EQE 2015 available

The Examiner's reports of the Main Exam papers of EQE 2015 are available on the EQE Compendium webpages.

Please refer to our dedicated blogs for discussions of each of the papers.

Thursday, July 02, 2015 Results Main Exam EQE 2015 are available!

The results from the EQE Main Exam 2015 are available on the EQE webpages (pdf).

Compared to 2014, the pass rates for all papers improved.

Our analysis indicates:

paper A (e/m and ch)

#fail A	254	29,26%
#passes A	534	61,52%
#passes+comp fail A	614	70,74%
compfail A	80	9,22%
#sitting A (non-zero)	868

#no-show (zero marks)

7

paper B (e/m and ch)

#fail B	199	24,24%
#passes B	568	69,18%
#passes+comp fail B	622	75,76%
compfail B	54	6,58%
#sitting B (non-zero)	821

#no-show (zero marks)

8

paper C

#fail C	535	50,61%
#passes C	425	40,21%
#passes+comp fail C	522	49,39%
compfail C	97	9,18%
#sitting C (non-zero)	1057

#no-show (zero marks)

27

paper D

#fail D	318	32,28%
#passes D	554	56,24%
#passes+comp fail D	667	67,72%
compfail D	113	11,47%
#sitting D (non-zero)	985

#no-show (zero marks)

44

(in 2014, 38,84% failed Am 35,93% failed B, 54,85% failed C and 52,62% failed D)

The score distributions are:

As always, any comments are welcome and appreciated. Please post using your real name or a nick name as that makes responding easier.

Roel

2 juli 2015

Addition 6 juli:

interesting to see how many candidates sat one of the pre-exams and now sat one or more main exam papers:

total candidates Main 2015	1685
	# pre-exam	# pre-sitters
	sitters, now     1 or more main	in pre-exam        year
	exam paper
PE2012 passers 50 or more	108	385
PE2012 passers 70 or more	84	353
PE2013 passers 50 or more	421	641
PE2013 passers 70 or more	360	569
PE2014 passers 70 or more	515	555
PE2014 passers 68 or 69	13	21
never pre-exam	641

Monday, March 02, 2015 When can you expect to get your results?

Many candidates ask use when the results and the Examiner's report will become available. We do not know - you can try with the Exam Secretariat to get an indication. But this is how it was in 2014:

Results Pre-Exam 2014

In 2014, the results and the Examiner's report with the official answer became available last week of March (on this and this page resp.), and the official results letters were dated 28 March 2014 (at least for the candidates that appealed in cases D3/14, D4/14 - I assume for all).
See e.g. our blog posts "Pre-Exam 2014 statististics", "How did Pre-Exam 2013 do at the Main Exam 2014?"

Update 1 April 2015: the Examiner's report for Pre-Exam 2015 was put online at the end of Thu 19 March, the list of results was put online shortly before 11:00 am on Fri 20 March, and the results letters were send on 27 March 2015 to the candidates. Examiner's report and results are extensively discussed on our blog with comments from many candidates.

Results Main Exam 2014

In 2014, the results of the main exam papers were published in the EPO website on 11 July 2014 (as a list of EQE registration number and scores on this page), and the Examiner's Reports for the main exam papers on 23 July 2014 (on the Compendium pages).
See e.g. our earlier blog posts "EQE 2014 results available online - and some statistics" "First results Paper C EQE 2014" and  "First Results Paper D 2014".

Monday, February 23, 2015 EQE 2015: please feel invited to comments to our blogs on the exam papers

DeltaPatents provides the following blogs for the various papers of EQE 2015. 

Each blog links to a copy of the paper (in English, French and German) and has the key ingredients of our solution as well as our further comments. All blogs are open for comments from EQE 2015 candidates and tutors that helped candidates prepare for EQE 2015.

Candidates and tutors are invited to add their comments and (agreeing or dissenting) opinions to our blogs in any official EPO language - you can comment in English, French or German. We will answer in English to further facilitate the discussion among all contributors.

     Pre-Exam

• DeltaPatents EQE Pre-Exam blog: paper (in all three languages), first impressions, our solution and many comments from and discussion with/among candidates on the legal as well as the claims analysis parts;

     Main Exam

• DeltaPatents EQE paper A Electricity/Mechanics blog: paper (in all three languages, our solution, discussion and comments;
• DeltaPatents EQE paper B Electricity/Mechanics blog: paper (in all three languages), our solution as well as comments from candidates to the amendments proposed by us and our argumentation in their support;
• DeltaPatents EQE paper A Chemistry blog:  paper (in all three languages), our solution, discussion and comments;
• DeltaPatents EQE paper B Chemistry blog:  paper (in all three languages), our solution, discussion and comments; 
• DeltaPatents EQE paper C blog has the paper (in all three languages) and indicates the main attacks. The EQE C blog has -as in earlier years -  extensive discussions with a large number of candidates;
• DeltaPatents EQE paper D blog  with the paper (in all three languages), first impressions, our answers to the DI-questions as well as our legal advice for DII, as well as interesting legal discussions among many candidates and tutors.

The reader is also invited to read and contribute to our other blogs on other (European) patent related topics:

• Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court
• Patent Law

Please feel invited to join the discussions at our blogs!

And... do not forget to read any comments posted to this blog!!!

NB: For preparation for EQE 2016's Pre-Exam or main exam papers, refer to this other post and our website (EQE courses and webshop).