Patent Agent Qualifying Examination - 2010 Report

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February 2011

Background

The Patent Agent Qualifying Examination is under the responsibility of the Patent Agent Examing Board. The Patent Appeal Board provides all administrative and logistical support for the exam. The Patent Agent Examination Board consists of the Chair, four members from the Patent Office and twelve members of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC), and is responsible for setting and marking the four papers that comprise the exam.

The exam is written in April each year as prescribed by Section 14 of the Patent Rules. To be eligible to become a registered patent agent, a candidate must obtain at least 50% on each paper and have a total of 240 marks (60% overall average) on the four papers. Candidates can choose to write all four papers in the same year or to write the exam over several years. A candidate who obtains at least 60 marks on any paper, but does not meet the requirements for passing the examination, will keep credit for that paper.

Overview of the 2010 Exam

The 2010 Patent Agent Qualifying Examination was administered on April 13, 14, 15 and 16 in ten locations across Canada, namely: Calgary, Edmonton, Gatineau, Lethbridge, Montréal, Québec City, Regina, St. John's, Toronto and Vancouver.

259 candidates wrote the examination and of those, 82 wrote all four papers, 59 wrote three papers, 79 wrote two papers and 39 wrote only one paper. Therefore, the total number of papers written was 702.

The Board considered requests for review from 45 candidates. Of these requests, four resulted in a changed status from fail to partial pass, and no review changed the status of a candidate from fail to pass.

In addition to the 27 candidates who passed the examination, one candidate passed three of the four papers, eight candidates passed two of the papers, 53 candidates passed one of the papers and 170 candidates did not pass any papers. Considering that of the 259 candidates, 212 candidates were eligible for a full pass, the full pass rate is 12.7 %. Annex A, Table 1 provides detailed results for each paper.

Graphical Representation of the Results

The compilation of the exam results data since 2003 is represented in Annex B. Graphs 1 to 4 show the variance over time and the average mark for papers A, B, C and D, since 2003.

Graph 5 illustrates the overall pass rates (based on the total number or candidates) and first time pass rates. Those rates have been declining over the years. Graph 6 provides information on the total number of candidates, total full pass and full pass on the first try. Finally, Graph 7 illustrates the time it takes for successful candidates to pass the exam. It is interesting to observe that historically, about 29% of the successful candidates wrote the exam for the first time and 41% for the second time; finally over four times, the number of candidates to successfully pass the exam are very low. This graph of course does not include data for candidates who unsuccessfully wrote the exam for multiple years.

Changes implemented for the 2010 exam

The Patent Agent Examing Board has updated the “Review policies and procedures” for the candidates who presented a written request for a review to the Board on the following grounds:

  1. a belief that a clerical error has occurred during the physical manipulation, addition or reproduction of the candidate's exam answer book and that pages were missed; or
  2. a belief that the marks awarded were inappropriate in consideration of the marking guide.

The Board has not provided a substantive review where the grounds for review were limited to how marks should have been awarded differently that what was indicated in the marking guide or where a candidate argued that an answer, different than what is indicated in the marking guide, should have been considered for additional marks.

The IPIC Exam Revision Committee, formed of senior member of the organisation, has continued to work and improve the set of tools for the four papers of the examination in order to assist both the Board members in setting and marking the exam, as well as the candidates in preparing and writing the exam.

I want to thank all the persons who participated to this collaborative effort to ensure that the 2010 exam was successfully completed, but most importantly, for their contribution in ensuring that only qualified candidates can become registered patent agents and recognised as members of the Patent Profession.

Agnès Lajoie
Chair, Patent Agent Examing Board

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