Study Planner Tutorial
You need to have a realistic deadline in mind when preparing for the Patent Bar exam. People have passed the Patent Bar using our course in as little as a couple of weeks (even with no prior knowledge of Patent Law). Others have spread the coursework out over a full year (or more). When it comes to your deadline, do what makes the most sense for you (and more importantly, do what is most realistic based on your schedule).
Here are a few factors to consider when deciding on your deadline for taking the exam:
- Your background.
- How many hours per week do you have to study.
- Whether or not you need long breaks (possibly up to a week or two) between bursts of studying.
- What other commitments you may have (or will have during your planned study period).
- How difficult you find the material.
We offer detailed 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 12-month study plans. You choose what works best for you.
We know you may be tempted to jump right into the PatExam Engine to save time and see if you can score well on the practice exams. Unfortunately, if you take this approach, you’ll really only become good at memorizing the answers to the specific questions in our test database. You won’t learn much of the material. On test day, you probably won’t achieve a passing score since you won’t know how to answer the new questions that will undoubtedly come up.
The patent office can ask you whatever they want from the MPEP and any tested supplement, they’re not limited to only asking repeat questions on the exam. While you’ll have the MPEP in **PDF format to look things up, with the time limits imposed, you won’t be able to look up all the questions.
The best advice is to follow our recommended strategy and put in the study time necessary to pass. That way, you'll learn the material. You’ll be able to answer the new questions that will most certainly crop up on your test.
As you can see there is a lot of material in this course. If you actually go through it all and work at it then you will know a great deal about patent law. So the real predictor of your success on the exam is whether or not your study plan is realistic. You want to make sure you can actually fit the recommended number of hours a week of study in so you can be fully prepared.
If you have no idea where to start, use the Study Planner wizard. This is a short assessment that’ll help give you an idea of which plan to select.
I’m sure the 1 or 2-month plan sounds great to everyone, but if you can’t really study as much as is required to prepare in that amount of time, you’ll just wind up frustrated by the end of it.
One thing you’ll notice is that really, the amount of time you have to study per week determines which study plan to choose.
The time estimates often include a big range. The best way to figure out the right time for you is to think about your strengths. Maybe you’re sure you’ll get through the material faster than the average person. Maybe you just love laws and rules. Or maybe you have experience with patent law. You might have already gone through law school and took patent law courses. Think about all this to help you determine if you'll fall on the high or low end of the range.
Figure out an estimated test date based on how much time you have per week. Look at our time estimates and if you're not sure whether you'll be on the low or the high end, then just pick the middle. Consider whether or not you really have that much time to prepare most every week before you commit.
If not you may need to adjust and push the test date out further. In that case, you’re going to have to be OK with this.
If you can't change your test date because you already applied to sit for the exam and triggered the 90-day window just do the best you can with the time you have. And again, in that case, you’re going to have to be OK with this. It’s not ideal and you may not pass if you don’t make it through enough of the material, but at least you’ll know which areas you missed for next time.
The study planners hold you accountable for working through the material before you go to take the exam. The test is really just a test of how much you know about patent law. You either know enough to pass it or you have not yet gone through enough to pass it.
Enrolling in this course doesn’t get you a passing score. Obviously, you have to actually consume the course to learn enough to pass!
So if you're in a position where you only have 4 weeks to study, you have no prior knowledge of patent law, and you can't spend more than 10 hours a week each week, please realize it's not very realistic that you're going to pass the exam on your upcoming try. You'll need to plan to re-take it in the event you weren't able to fit in all the study time you need. And that's OK. Just follow a realistic study schedule next time.
As you can see, whether you pass or fail really depends on how well you can stay on track with your preparations. So please review our study schedule options and plan accordingly! It’s a very important part of passing this exam. If you leave your study schedule up to chance, then chances are you may not get around to taking the exam!
Try out the Study Planner Wizard if you still need help. Just answer a few simple questions and it'll let you know which planner is right for you.
Then download the right study plan for you and then transfer the tasks over to a calendar. This section also includes a checklist that you may want to download if you prefer having a hard copy of your progress. It shows you the main parts of the program along with checkboxes. So download and print that out if you think you’ll need it.
Study Planner Downloads
We hope that one of these study plans works for you. Whether it takes you a full year, 2 months, or somewhere in between is not important. What is important is that you do pass the exam so you can get started with your career in patent law.
Many people have prepared for this exam while juggling a family and a full-time job. You can even spread your preparations out further than one year if need be.
** All the PDF plans are available near the bottom of this page. Once you've selected the right one for you, transfer the tasks to a calendar (either an online or offline calendar).
4-Week Study Plan
This study plan includes 4 weeks plotted out, day-by-day. This plan is not recommended unless you have no other choice (i.e. you must schedule the exam within a 4-week period). Although we have had people with no previous patent law knowledge pass the exam within a one-month period, it is clear they were able to invest a full-time effort into studying in those few weeks. To see the best results with this plan you will need to commit to:
- 7 days of study per week. Between 30 and 50+ hours of study per week depending on how quickly you move through the material.
8-Week Study Plan
This study plan includes 8 weeks plotted out, day-by-day. To see the best results with this plan you will need to commit to:
- 5 to 6 days of study per week (you will have at least 1 day off from study per week).
- Between 20 and 35 hours of study per week depending on how quickly you move through the material.
3-Month Study Plan
This study plan includes 12 weeks (3-months) plotted out, day-by-day. To see the best results with this plan you will need to commit to:
- 4 to 5 days of study per week (you will have at least 2 days off from study per week).
- Between 10 and 25 hours of study per week depending on how quickly you move through the material.
6-Month Study Plan
24 weeks (6-months) are planned out for you within this plan. If you choose this study plan, you should expect to:
- Spend 3 to 4 days per week studying.
- Study between 5 and 15 hours a week on preparing for the Patent Bar. As with all the plans, the amount you need to study will depend on how quickly you can get through the material.
9-Month Study Plan
This plan includes 36 weeks (9-months) all plotted out for you, down to daily activities. Please note that this plan includes a week break between the completion of each major step. There is also a 3-week final review to make sure you recall the important information on the day of the test. This is important since your studies will be spread out over a longer period of time. If you choose this study plan, you will need the following:
- 3 study days per week (there are a few weeks where you will need to spend 4 days studying).
- About 4 to 10 hours of study time per week (depending on how quickly you move through the material while still retaining it).
12-Month Study Plan
The 12-month study plan includes 52 weeks of activities charted out by the day. This plan includes 2-week breaks after the completion of each major step along with a 4-week final review. This final review is important since you're spreading out your preparations over such a long period of time. This plan requires:
- 2 days of study per week (there are a few weeks where you will need to spend 3 days studying).
- About 3 to 6 hours of study time per week (dependent on how quickly you grasp the material).