http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2020/08/uk-patent-exams-update-proctoring.html
The patent examination board (PEB) has issued another update on the online UK exams that will be held later this year. In a crucial update, the PEB has now announced that the third party proctoring software that the PEB were planning to use for the exams will now be replaced by a “simpler” invigilation system.
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As reported by IPKat last month, candidates were told about the proctoring software that would be used for the exams in a CIPA hosted webinar. Candidates were encouraged to look up a YouTube video of the software to familiarise themselves with how it would work. The software would reportedly require a webcam on your laptop, a phone camera positioned behind you and would record any and all disturbances in your environment. Furthermore, only one monitor would be permitted. However, many of the details of the software were still sketchy.
In the latest PEB statement, the PEB announces that the software is now not viewed as providing the “optimum solution for PEB candidates”. We are left in the dark as to why the software was not “optimal”. In any case, it seems that the plan is now to use a simpler form of remote invigilation. Importantly, the PEB reassures candidates that “the Pre-Registration Information for Candidates will be largely unchanged: the examinations will be delivered online to be taken in candidates’ own home, at another private address, or at their workplace”.
The PEB announcement came, without fanfare, at the same time as the deadline for paying the exam fees (non-refundable except in exceptional circumstances e.g. illness). It seems that many candidates are unaware of the change. Candidates will therefore have either committed to taking or not taking the exams this year on the basis of what was known about the previous system. It is unclear what the new requirements will be. However, the PEB indicates that “the minimum IT requirements are currently being reviewed and simplified as much as possible and will be communicated to candidates in due course”. In any case, it now seems that some of the information on the PEB’s own FAQs about the exams, in particular the IT requirements, may now be incorrect.
Further details of the Pre-Registration information has also been provided. Importantly, the deadline for candidates to change the venue of where they wish to take the exams is 31 August 2020. “Essential Information for Candidates” will not be issued until 1 month before the exams.
Stay tuned to IPKat for further updates.
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