EPAC 2022 -- Update 3 April 2023: Results are out!
Today, enrolment for the first EPAC exam, which will take place online on 12 December 2022, has opened. Enrolment closes on 30 September 2022. See the News message on the EPO website here. For our course offer, see here.
Update 3 April 2023: results are out, and Examiner report is available (here). Please feel invited to post your comments.
The News messsage provides (cited without changes, but emphasis added):
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European Patent Administration Certification (EPAC): enrol now
5 September 2022
Paralegals, patent administrators and formalities officers can now enrol for the online EPAC exam, which will take place on 12 December 2022. Enrolment opens today and closes on 30 September 2022.
The EPAC attests professionals' knowledge and skills in managing the filing of patent applications, as well as processes associated with their prosecution, grant and maintenance for European and international patent applications before the EPO.
Candidates are advised to prepare for the EPAC exam by taking advantage of the wide array of tailor-made training opportunities offered by the European Patent Academy. Sign up for the EPO newsletter and Academy email alerts to get all of the latest updates. For more detailed information on the exam, you can also consult our Frequently Asked Questions.
Successfully enrolled candidates can take a mock exam on 21 November, which is highly recommended to prepare for the EPAC 2022 exam. The mock and the EPAC exam will be held in the same technical environment and present the same level of difficulty.
So be among the first to take the EPAC and become a certified European patent administrator!
Further information:
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Enrolment page: here
The examination papers are drawn up in the three official languages of the EPO (English, French and German). You must select the official language you wish to sit the exam in when enrolling.
DeltaPatents course offer: here.
DeltaPatents offers a course covering the EPAC syllabus for candidates that plan to sit EPAC 2023. DeltaPatents has been offering a similar course to candidates preparing for the national formalities exam in the Netherlands, which also covers the EPC and PCT with essentially the same scope, for many years already. We were therefore able to already provide a course to prepare for EPAC 2022, which is now being further developed for EPAC 2023 using the teachings of the EPAC 2022 course and examination. The course is designed for and directed to paralegals, patent administrators and formalities officers, with at least a couple of years experience. [Updated 5 April 2023]
Congratulations to all candidates that passed the first EPAC exam!
ReplyDeleteThe results are out!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.epo.org/news-events/news/2023/20230403a.html
The Examiner Report shows:
"Examiner report
General comments on EPAC 2022
From the results of this first edition of the EPAC examination it would appear that candidates were not able to prepare properly for the rigours of the exam on the basis of the training resources in place.
We hope that with more training and preparation time, the pass rate will rise, especially for the first – multiple choice – part of the exam. We are of the opinion that with enough training and time to prepare for the exam a candidate should be able to correctly answer at least 8 of the 15 questions.
This year, 55% of candidates passed the first part of the exam, and 60% of those candidates also passed the second part, meaning that in total, 35% of the candidates enrolled passed the EPIC 2022 exam.
General comments on EPAC 2022, part 1
For the multiple-choice part of EPAC 22, the average mark was 7.8.
The best-answered questions were 8 and 9, and the worst-answered question was 15.
The lowest-rated candidates got 1 point and the best candidates got 15.
We tried to cover all parts of the syllabus in this part to distribute the questions among the five modules as defined on the syllabus.
General comments on EPAC 2022, part 2
In this part of the exam, the candidates are not required to provide the legal basis relied on for their answers. Nor are they required to enter strategic considerations. They are only required to reply to the examination question asked.
[...refer to the Examiner Report via the link below for the rest of it...]"
(https://www.epo.org/learning/european-patent-administration-certification/archive.html)
The pass rate was lower than what was -prior to the exam- expected for this first EPAC exam: only 35% (of all candidates enrolled for the EPAC 2022 exam) passed the complete exam.
https://www.epo.org/news-events/news/2023/20230403a.html:
Delete"First EPAC results are out
3 April 2023
We are pleased to announce the successful completion of the examination process of the first European patent administration certification (EPAC). The EPAC has been set up to cater to demand on the European level and as part of the EPO's Strategic Plan 2023 to further strengthen the European Patent Network.
157 candidates passed the EPAC 2022. Overall, the vast majority of candidates came from industry or a private patent attorney practice (85%) and were women (also 85%). Registrations were received from 23 EPC member states and 10 non-member states, including the United States, P.R. China, Canada and Mexico.
The results of EPAC 2022 and list of successful candidates are available as of today on the EPAC webpages.
Congratulations to all of the successful candidates on passing the EPAC 2022. With this certification, they have demonstrated that they possess the required knowledge and skills to deal independently and autonomously with the procedures associated with the filing, prosecution, grant and maintenance of European and international patent applications before the EPO, as well as with post-grant procedures.
Feedback received from candidates included appreciation of this opportunity for personal growth and to build confidence, as well as to establish a better understanding of how to interact with users in the patent granting process.
Currently, the EPAC Board is preparing for the EPAC 2023, which will be held on 12 October. Enrolment opens on 18 April and runs until 14 August 2023.
It is still possible and highly recommended to join the carefully designed preparation courses for EPAC candidates, even if you are not planning to sit this year's exam."
NB: The list of names seems to show 155 candidates that passed, not 157.
Deletehttps://www.epo.org/learning/european-patent-administration-certification/successful-candidates.html ->
https://documents.epo.org/projects/babylon/eponot.nsf/0/D9DD75878A94EE1BC125895F002D1871/$FILE/List%20of%20successful%20candidates%20EPAC%202022_.pdf
For Question 1 of Part 2, the Examiner Report says:
ReplyDelete"Few candidates mentioned that the request for examination had to be refiled in the language of the proceedings."
and the Possible solution:
“Request examination in Italian, a translation of the request for examination in the
language of the proceedings must be refiled (Guidelines A-X, 9.2.3).”
However, Art. 14(4) EPC allows any of the three official EPO languages, as it provides that "They shall, however, file a translation in an official language of the European Patent Office in accordance with the Implementing Regulations".
This is also made explicit in GL A-VII, 3.2 on Admissible non-EPO languages :
“A translation of a document filed in an admissible non-EPO language into
an official language of the EPO must be filed within a non-extendable
period of one month (Rule 6(2)). […] The translation can be into any of the
EPO's official languages, regardless of the language of the proceedings.”
I scored full marks for Q1. In my answer, I (correctly) stated that the translation had to be filed in EN, FR or DE, so no penalty for not specifically mentioning the language of proceedings.
ReplyDeleteThe official answer to Q2a is also not entirely accurate:
ReplyDelete(a) The request for restoration had to be filed within two months of the date on which the priority period expired, which is 26 July 2021.
(The priority period expired on 22 May 2021 extended to 25 May 2021.
25 May 2021 + 2 months => 25 July 2021, extended to 26 July 2021).
Do you notice that they have given no explanation for why expiry of the 12m priority period is extended to 25 May 2021?
I came to exactly the same calculation during the exam, because I was using an EPO calendar. 22 May is a Saturday so the period extended to 24 May 2021 (Whit Monday). The EPO was closed on this day, but the EPO was not the receiving Office. The request for restoration needed to be filed at the USPTO, which does not, I believe, close for Pinksteren.
The final answer remains the same, even when you use 24/05 as expiry of the priority period. 2m from expiry --> 24/07/2021 (Sat) --> 26/07/2021