Overview
In accordance with section 21 of the Patent Rules, the Patent Agent Qualifying Examination is administered at least once a year.
The Patent Appeal Board (Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO)) provides administrative and logistical support for the examination, which includes ensuring that candidates for the examination have submitted the information required by section 19 of the Patent Rules and notifying candidates as to whether or not they have met the requirements for writing the examination. The Patent Appeal Board also communicates results of the examination to the candidates.
The Examining Board is established for the purpose of preparing, administering and marking the examination. Members of the Examining Board are appointed for periods of up to 3 years. The Chair of Examining Board is the Chair of the Patent Appeal Board at CIPO.
The 2020 Examining Board consisted of a Chair and 16 board members of which 4 were employees of CIPO and 12 were nominated by the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC).
The qualifying examination is administered as four papers. The papers are labelled A to D and cover: A - Patent Drafting; B - Validity of a Canadian Patent; C - Response to an Office Action; and D - Infringement of a Canadian Patent. To be eligible for inclusion on the register of patent agents, a candidate must obtain at least 50 marks (50%) on each paper and have a total of 240 marks on the four papers. Candidates may write 1 or more papers in a given year and the marks from a given paper on which a grade of 60 or more was achieved will carry forward to future attempts to pass the examination. A candidate who is entitled to carry forward marks is said to have achieved a “partial pass” of the examination.
Preparation of the Examination
Prior to the preparation of the examination, a Joint Meeting was held in October 2019 between the Examining Board and the IPIC Patent Agent Examination Standards Committee ("Committee") to discuss the administration of the 2019 Examination and discuss best practices for the administration of the 2020 Examination. The Committee reviews the development and administration of the Patent Agent Examination in order to assist the Examining Board in maintaining recognized standards for certification.
The Examining Board prepares the four examination papers along with four marking grids. These documents are translated to allow candidates to write the examination in their official language of choice. The translated documents are reviewed to ensure accuracy, recognizing that linguistic differences may exist between the English and French versions due to the technical content and the specialized nature of the subject matter of each paper. Any such differences are taken into account in the marking grids. The Examining Board members evaluate the papers using a bilingual marking grid.
Statistics
This year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the 2020 Patent Agent Qualifying Examination was administered electronically on November 3, 4, 5 and 6, 2020.
A total of 116 candidates wrote examination papers. The total number of papers written was 328. Of the 116 candidates, 41 were writing the examination for the first time. This year, 2 candidates wrote the examination in French and 114 in English.
Candidates were informed of their marks in January 2021. Upon request, candidates who requested their examination material received a copy at the end of February 2021. Candidates had until , to request a review of their marks.
Of the 116 candidates who wrote examination papers, 31 candidates received an overall pass during the initial correction. The Examining Board considered requests for reviews from:
- 18 candidates for Paper A;
- 17 candidates for Paper B;
- 9 candidates for Paper C;
- 20 candidates for Paper D.
After the review, five additional candidates received an overall pass, increasing the total overall pass from 31 to 36. These revisions resulted in a success of the examination as a whole:
- 1 partial pass for Paper A;
- 1 partial pass for Paper B;
- 2 partial passes for Paper C;
- 1 partial pass for Paper D.
A total of 98 candidates were writing all outstanding papers, and hence could have achieved an overall pass of the examination.
Considering the 36 candidates having received an overall pass, the global pass rate is therefore 37%.
Of the 36 candidates that received an overall pass: 44.4% (16/36) of them wrote all examination papers on their first attempt and succeeded, 47.2% (17/36) of candidates achieved an overall pass after five attempts or less, 8.3% (3/36) of candidates achieved an overall pass after 19 attempts or less.
The highest mark obtained is 93/100 for Paper A, 80/100 for Paper B, 93/100 for Paper C and 73/100 for Paper D. The highest overall mark is 294.5/400.
Table 1
| Paper A | Paper B | Paper C | Paper D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # of papers | 81 | 84 | 68 | 95 |
| average mark | 51% | 55% | 64% | 48% |
| marks 60 + | 24 | 29 | 48 | 15 |
| 50 to 59 | 20 | 32 | 10 | 37 |
| 40 to 49 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 21 |
| under 40 | 24 | 9 | 3 | 22 |
| Highest | 93% | 80% | 93% | 73% |
| Lowest | 2% | 19.5% | 23% | 12.5% |
Table 2 and Figure 1 – Average Marks for Each Paper Since 2005
| Paper A | Paper B | Paper C | Paper D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 52% | 52% | 55% | 47% |
| 2006 | 52% | 49% | 55% | 38% |
| 2007 | 55% | 43% | 54% | 38% |
| 2008 | 53% | 51% | 49% | 51% |
| 2009 | 50% | 45% | 50% | 50% |
| 2010 | 44% | 41% | 61% | 47% |
| 2011 | 40% | 44% | 55% | 47% |
| 2012 | 38% | 42% | 48% | 49% |
| 2013 | 36% | 44% | 55% | 38% |
| 2014 | 45% | 45% | 57% | 45% |
| 2015 | 41% | 49% | 61% | 43% |
| 2016 | 42% | 54% | 64% | 39% |
| 2017 | 37% | 48% | 51% | 45% |
| 2018 | 57% | 48% | 58% | 43% |
| 2019 | 56% | 51% | 57% | 49% |
| 2020 | 51% | 55% | 64% | 48% |
Table 3 and Figure 2 – Overall Pass Rates and First Try Pass Rates since 2005
| Overall Pass Rate | First Try Pass Rate | |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 16% | 3% |
| 2006 | 12% | 2% |
| 2007 | 28% | 5% |
| 2008 | 17% | 4% |
| 2009 | 15% | 4% |
| 2010 | 13% | 2% |
| 2011 | 10% | 1% |
| 2012 | 7% | 1% |
| 2013 | 15% | 1% |
| 2014 | 25% | 2% |
| 2015 | 19% | 1% |
| 2016 | 12% | 3% |
| 2017 | 20% | 2% |
| 2018 | 28% | 5% |
| 2019 | 38% | 9% |
| 2020 | 37% | 16% |
Table 4 and Figure 3 – Number of Attempts for those candidates achieving Overall Pass in 2020
| Number of Attempts to Achieve Overall Pass in 2020 | Number of Candidates |
|---|---|
| 1 | 16 |
| 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 7 |
| 4 | 2 |
| 5 | 3 |
| 7 | 1 |
| 9 | 1 |
| 19 | 1 |
| total | 36 |
Conclusion
I extend my thanks to all members of the Examining Board for their hard work and dedication during the pandemic in ensuring that the Patent Agent Qualifying Examination continues to be administered fairly and impartially, thus providing the public with the assurance that patent agents are entered on the register only after having passed a rigorous process and are well qualified to assist them in the protection of their intellectual property.
Nathalie Tremblay
Chair, Examining Board