http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2020/09/uk-patent-exams-fd4p6-survey-and-model.html
The UK patent exams are now fast approaching. Candidates are awaiting the “essential information for candidates” which is due to be released 1 month before the exams. With the first exam taking place on 12th October, we should therefore expect the information to be released by the start of next week. Hopefully the information will answer some of the outstanding questions regarding the exams (including the basic question of how long each exam will be?).
To assist candidates in their preparation for the exams, the PEB has released some FD4/P6 (Infringement and validity) model answers for the 2013 (“Water butts”) and 2018 (“Gantry-gate”) papers. The model answers can be viewed on the PEB website here. The answers were written by an unpaid volunteer in their own time “who recognised that many candidates did not fully understand what a good FD4 answer should look like”. Indeed, there are many schools of thought in the profession as to how FD4/P6 should be approached. FD4/P6 also seems to be the paper that has the worst reputation, to which the comments here on IPKat here and here are a testament.
| P6, 2013 – Water Butts |
The PEB have previously provided example candidate scripts, but admits that it may be difficult for candidates to pick up what a FD4/P6 answer should look like from a sample script that scored at most 70%. The model answers are therefore welcome and many thanks should go to the anonymous volunteer.
In other FD4/P6 related news, readers may have noticed a small survey in the comments of the previous IPKat UK patent exams update. This survey has been set up by a reader and aims to garner the opinions for those in the profession on FD4/P6 (as a complement to the Mercer Review). The survey takes just a couple of minutes and can be taken here. We hope to publish the results here on IPKat.
IPKat wishes everyone good luck with their revision!
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