This is the question at the heart of it all, isn’t it? There are a lot of good ways to study for the patent bar, but ultimately what you need to get out of your studying is being really good at finding the right answers to patent bar style questions, whether that is by looking it up in the MPEP or by knowing the basics of patent law.
Don’t fall into the trap of passively trying to become an expert in patent law, whether that’s by watching videos or reading the MPEP or reading chapter summaries. On their own, these passive strategies are usually not enough, and spending too much of your limited study time on them can be inefficient at best.
Instead, use active learning strategies. Instead of just watching a video, pause and ask yourself questions or write down the key takeaway from memory. Instead of just reading a chapter section, draw a diagram or explain the rule in your own words. Most importantly of all, do as many practice questions as you can, from the beginning. Don’t wait until you’ve studied the whole MPEP or taken a whole course before you begin doing practice questions.
After you take each practice quiz, go back and study your answers. For the questions you got right, did you get them right because you guessed or because you found/knew the answer? For the questions you got wrong, why did you get them wrong? Where is the correct answer located in the MPEP?
There are other ways you can study actively too. For example, if you see an interesting question, you could think about related circumstances:
“I know that a nonprovisional application generally must be filed within 12 months to claim the benefit of a provisional application. But what happens if you miss that deadline by a day? Are there circumstances in which the benefit can still be restored?”
Another useful strategy can be to write a few questions of your own, making them as tricky as possible. This will help you to find subtle traps and identify question patterns. Try to create answer choices that would fool someone who only understands the rule at a surface level. This can help you recognize subtle traps and identify common question patterns.
Overall, prioritize practice questions, learn from your answers, and never rely on passive osmosis to pass the patent bar. Good luck with your studying, you’ve got this!
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