The 2010 Edition of the Study Guide is due out at the start of June

For more details, either visit the book's forum here:

http://studyguide.forumer.com/

Or visit CIPA's textbook page here:

http://www.cipa.org.uk/pages/info-textbooks

Update:
My 2010 Recommended Revision Schedule is now available here.

All the best,

Doug

2009 Edition to be released in June by CIPA

Yes, the 2009 edition will be in out in real book format in June, with all proceeds to CIPA. I understand that the price will be £25 for CIPA members (incl p&p) and £30 for non-members.

Further information will be posted at the new forum at http://studyguide.forumer.com, which also provides areas to discuss P2, P3, P4 and P6, together with suggested revision schedules to help synchronise your discussions - the forum is entirely free to anyone who is interested, so please make use of it!

The 2009 Edition includes

In Part 1:
• Updated section on the *simplified* UK patents act, to reflect the JEB syllabus
• Sections covering designs and competition

In Part 2:
• Updated sections on overseas law to reflect the JEB syllabus

In new Part 3:
• A complete guide to revising for, analysing and answering P2 Questions

In Part 4:
• Quick reference tables for GB, EP and PCT prosecution

All the best,

Doug

All Done!

I hope the exams went well - the feedback seems to be that P2 was fair, P6 was a bit of a pig whilst P4 was a little left-field but manageable, and finally P3 was OK.

Well that's it from me until the Second Edition, which should come out around June 2009 - and which (hopefully) will be cross-referenced with the 6th edition of the Black book, and more importantly will include a 40-odd page section on how to revise for and take the P2 paper, using worked examples.

Thanks to everyone for their kind words and enthusiasm - now lets hope the results are good!

Doug

Good Luck!!

Just a quick note to wish everyone good luck with the UK finals - I hope it goes well for you on the day!

Doug

Version 1.1 of the Study Guide is now available

Version 1.1 of the Guide includes around two dozen corrections to sections and rules of the acts and well over a hundred minor corrections, clarifications and additions to the sections and commentaries, as well as numerous changes to improve readability.

You can download version 1.1 by clicking here or clicking on the book cover to the right.

All the best,

Doug

The Study Guide is now available

The Guide is free, and available for download by clicking on the cover image to the right or by visiting the 'Downloads' section, which also links to some sample pages.

The Guide sets out to achieve the opposite of such books as Visser and Hoekstra; rather than provide exhaustive commentary on all patent law for reference during the open-book EQEs, it instead simplifies the law and commentary (including the recent rule changes) as far as possible, to provide a single, bare-bones reference that can be readily learnt for the closed-book UK finals. The Guide may also be handy for anyone else wanting a consolidation of the sections and the new rules.

The book relies on word-of-mouth - so if you find it useful, please let others know about it!

The Guide was last updated on 24^th September 2008. The link to the right is for the latest version. Corrections since version 1.1 was released can be found in the errors post further down.

Contents

Part 1: UK Law
• Simplified UK Patents Act with exam notes;
• Designs
• Competition Law

Part 2: Overseas Law
• Extracts from the Paris Convention
• Extracts from the Patent Co-Operation Treaty
• Extracts from the European Patent Convention
• Overview of US Patent Law
• Overview of Japanese Patent Law

Part 3: Tables
• Common Forms
• Amendment and Correction
• PCT Prosecution Timeline
• GB Prosecution Timelines
• EP Prosecution Timeline

Downloads

The first edition of the Study Guide is no longer available. The 2009 Edition will be available in June 2009.

Errors, Questions, Suggestions...

In lieu of a forum facility on blogspot, please use this blog entry to post any...
i. errors you find in the book,
ii. requests for clarification on an entry in the book, or
iii. suggestions about what you would like to see added to the book (either in one of the monthly updates planned for the run-up to this year's P2, or for a future edition).

- Thank you!

All errata previously reported here for v1.0 have been corrected in v1.1.


Errata in v1.1 of the book:

The error(s) below have been fixed in the currently available download of 24th September 2008.


• The commentary on section 4A has been updated to remove the requirement for Swiss Claims (see section 4A.02 of the 5th supplement for details).

• s77(6) has been corrected; references to Rules 110(3) and (4) should of course refer to Rules 108 (2) and (3).

• R108(5) has been included, to read 'The discretionary extensions under (1) and (3) above are limited to 2 months from the deadline in the case of periods listed in part 3 of schedule 4.'.

• s25(3) - The parenthesis should read '...(being by default the anniversary of filing, or in the case of R37(3)or(4), the end of the 3rd month from grant)...'

• A54(3) - the accompanying notes have been updated to clarify that A54(3) EPC 2000 applies for filings after 12 Dec 2007.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why is it free?

I started the book in earnest in March. It wasn't ready for anyone to review until mid-May. By the time I had got a conventional publisher to accept, review, edit, print, advertise and publish the book it would be November.

I toyed with self-publication, but decided that's a financial gamble for both author and reader.

So in the end I decided to release the book, for free, as early as possible in the run-up to P2 in the hope that it would get a good circulation and actually be of some use.

If you find the book helpful, then please
a. tell anyone else who might find it helpful, and
b. consider a donation to Cancer Research UK.

2. Why doesn't it include XYZ?

The book sticks to the P2 syllabus as available in May '08. If you think anything is missing or incorrect, please let me know on the feedback page and I'll try to include or correct it in one of the monthly updates I plan to release in the run up to this year's P2.

Study Guide to the Patents Acts coming soon

The Study Guide to the Patents Acts sets out to achieve the opposite of such books as Visser and Hoeksta. Rather than provide exhaustive commentary on patent law for reference during the open book EQEs, it instead simplifies the law and commentary as far as possible, to provide a bare-bones reference that can be readily learnt by students taking the closed-book UK finals.

The book will be free.

It is scheduled for release as a pdf on 1st June 2008.

If you find the book useful, please let other people know and tell them to visit.