http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2020/08/uk-exams-update-major-changes-to.html
The deadline for candidates to change the location in which they will be sitting their UK patent exams is this bank holiday (31 August 2020). Yesterday, this Kat was alerted by a Kat-friend to some major changes to the FAQs published on the PEB website. Many of these changes relate to the arrangement needed for candidates taking the exam at their office.
The changes to the FAQ have been helpfully summarised on the Yellow Sheet. Importantly, for candidates sitting the exams at their firm, there must be a “designated contact” in the room to invigilate the exam. Importantly, the designated contact must be free from conflict of interest. The FAQs have been updated to provide further information of what is considered “conflict of interest”, in particular:
‘Examples of “working closely” with a candidate include, but are not limited to, currently or previously line managing, supervising, mentoring or training the candidate. However, there are likely to be many other situations where a conflict of interest arises, particularly if social relationships exist outside work.‘
It seems that conflict of interest as defined in the FAQs will be difficult to avoid for small firms, with few senior attorneys, or large firms, in which many candidates will be taking the exam and the invigilator will need to be conflict free in respect to all of the candidates.
| Advanced patent law revision |
Another crucial update in the FAQs is that candidates will now be able to sit the exams together in a conference room, provided that the appropriate social distancing rules are followed. The use of glass offices will also now be possible.
The change to the arrangements seems to follow from the decision of the PEB to drop the use of third party proctoring software (IPKat: UK patent exams update: Proctoring system will no-longer be used, but exams still to go ahead with “simpler” invigilation system). The FAQs indicate that the latest changes were made on the 21st August, although it seems they only became available online a few days after this. Either way, there is very little time for candidates and firms to finalise and confirm arrangements (e.g. to appoint a designated contact) before the 31st August cut-off for designating your exam venue. The PEB have also now taken the instructions to candidates off the website (they are “currently being updated”). It is not clear when we should expect these to re-appear.
Thus, it seems that many candidates would be grateful for more visible communication from the PEB, given how tight some of the deadlines are. In order to facilitate better communication, IPKat invites the PEB to send any significant information on the 2020 exams directly our way, so that IPKat can update our readership as quickly as possible. Emails to IPKat ([email protected]) will reach us.
Stay tuned to IPKat for further updates.
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