Alerts and Updates for US Patent Bar Examination

Technical eligibility is assessed against set categories: Category A is a bachelor's degree or higher in a recognised technical subject, Category B is another degree plus prescribed coursework such as 24 semester hours in physics, Category C is practical engineering experience evidenced by passing the Fundamentals of Engineering test, and Category D covers design patent practice only, for degrees in architecture, fine arts, graphic design, industrial design or product design. The source-materials list also names the Consolidated Trial Practice Guide of November 2019, the April 2013 final rules on representation of others before the USPTO, and the Global and IP5 Patent Prosecution Highway pilot programmes.

There is no sitting calendar: the exam runs year-round and the only fixed dates are the update on September 23, 2026 and the blackout immediately before it. The source-materials page was last updated on 29 May 2026 and still lists Revision 01.2024, so the September update changes the examination form rather than the body of law under test.

The mistake that costs most candidates a sitting is confusing the exam update with a change in the law tested. The USPTO says the examination is updated on September 23, 2026, and separately that both the old and new versions test MPEP Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024. The second mistake is timing: the exam is open-entry and year-round, so people book it around work and then discover the admission and scheduling steps run through two different systems.

Read the two statements together. The examination is updated on September 23, 2026, and there is a blackout from September 17 to 22 while that happens, yet the source materials remain MPEP Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024, published November 2024. The practical reading is that the question pool and form change while the body of material stays put. Do not throw away a revision plan built on Revision 01.2024 because of the update, and equally do not assume a commercial course that advertises itself as current has been rebuilt for the new form. The safe check is the USPTO's own source-materials list, which was last updated on 29 May 2026 and still names Revision 01.2024.

Only 90 of the 100 questions count, and 63 correct is the pass. That leaves 27 scored questions you may get wrong. The ten unscored beta items are not identified during the exam, so a question that looks unfamiliar or oddly drafted may simply be a trial item that costs nothing. Candidates who become convinced mid-exam that the paper is unfairly hard often do so on the back of a cluster of beta questions. The right response is mechanical: answer everything, flag nothing for a second full pass unless time allows, and treat the unfamiliar items as noise rather than evidence about the rest of the paper.

Admission to the examination turns on the scientific and technical requirement. Category A accepts a bachelor's degree or higher in a listed technical subject, with computer science accepted as a B.S. only. Category B accepts other degrees plus prescribed coursework, for example 24 semester hours in physics, or 32 semester hours in specified combinations including eight semester hours of chemistry or physics. Category C rests on practical engineering experience evidenced by passing the Fundamentals of Engineering test. Category D is limited to design patent practice for architecture, fine arts, graphic design, industrial design or product design degrees. Work out your category before paying the 118 US dollar non-refundable application fee, because that fee does not come back.

Application goes through the Office of Enrollment and Discipline's online applicant portal, where forms, supporting documents and fees are handled electronically. Scheduling is a separate step with Prometric, which charges its own administration fee on top of the 226 US dollar examination fee. Candidates routinely underestimate the gap between admission and a usable appointment slot, particularly around the September blackout. Build the sequence backwards from the date you want to sit: portal application, admission, then Prometric booking, and expect the scarce resource to be test-centre availability rather than USPTO processing.

A candidate who fails may schedule a review session within 60 days through Prometric, and that session shows only the questions answered incorrectly. This is the most underused asset in the whole process. Because the retake interval is 30 days from the date of the last examination, a failed candidate who books the review promptly can still be eligible to retake shortly afterwards with a precise list of weaknesses rather than an impression. Go into the review with a structured tally by MPEP chapter, since the value lies in identifying which two or three chapters produced the bulk of the lost marks.