Paper DI
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Contents |
Exam Details
When: First day, morning
Duration: 3 hours
Purpose
The purpose of Paper D is to assess the ability of candidates to answer legal questions and to draft legal assessments.
Paper DI comprises questions relating to different areas of the candidate's legal knowledge. The examination intends to test your knowledge of the European Patent Convention, the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Paris Convention.
Candidates must answer all the questions. The Answers should be brief an to the point. Candidates should always cite Article, Rule or other legal basis relevant to their answer. The eloquence of the answer is irrelevant for the marking.
It is important that you stick to your timetable. The points are different for each question; they are indicated for each question in the paper. It is suggested that you allow approximately 4½ minutes for each point. Thus, a question worth 3 points should be answered in about 13 minutes. It is not necessary to provide an extensive answer for a 2 point question as the question clearly requires a short answer.
Methodology
Start with reading the question carefully. Read the entire question. Make sure that you understand the question being asked before writing your answer. E.g. don’t confuse “application” and “patent”; “international” and “European patent” application.
If priority is an issue: is the legal basis to be found in Art.87 EPC or in Art.4 of the Paris Convention, e.g. via PCT Art.8?
Upon reading, find out what the subject of the question is. This is always related to an Article of Rule in the law. Look up the legal provision in a Reference book. Quickly scan the entire Article/Rule. Scan for relevant links in the Reference book to find related legal provisions, relevant case law, Ancillary Regulations and/or the EPO Guidelines or the PCT Applicant's Guide.
Do not change the question into one of your own making. This leads to loss of time and no poits are scored.
What "hidden" information can be found in the question? If a DI question tells you that entry into the regional phase was before the EPO as elected Office, then you can assume that a preliminary examination was carried out in the international phase. Such information is probably relevant for the answer.
Upon answering the question, do not forget to give the answer. In addition, always provide the legal basis for your answer. Then apply the law to the facts of the question. Relevant G-decisions should always be cited.
In your answer: show the reasoning: do not take shortcuts; otherwise you could miss an important aspect of the question. However, do not digress on issues not asked for in the question: it does not provide points and valuable time is lost!
Whenever deadlines or dates are involved, always calculate the dates using the calendar ensuring you look up the correct year. It is almost certain that one of the dates will fall within the provisions of R.134 EPC. For more complicated cases, make a date display (time line).
A repetition of the facts in the question is superfluous.
Marking
Marking in Paper DI is very strict: half of the points for a DI question are given to the citation of the relevant Article – Rule – Case Law – Guidelines - PCT Applicant's Guide, and half of the points are given to a short explanation of the answer.
The smallest entity of points is 0.5 points.
Normally, one or two bonus points can be scored, but the total of the marking will not exceed the maximum number of points
How to Guides
It is useless taking with you material in the examination that you are not familiar with, as it will take too much time to learn how to use it.