Going Through the Registration Process for the Patent Bar Exam
Well, I finally got my Registration Examination application sent to the USPTO. The level of procrastination may be a good sign, since Paul Gardner likes to emphasize the natural predisposition toward extreme procrastination found in all patent agents. Or it may just cause major stress and complications for me later if I am unable to find a convenient time and/or place to take the test out of the remaining available seats. It still depends on the application being correct and complete, which sounds relatively simple, but I found it somewhat stressful to accomplish.
For a while, I was actually ahead of the game, since I got my official transcript over a month ago. Despite Brad’s advice to apply for the exam as soon as possible after the PRG Patent Bar Review Course, I just didn’t get the papers together and sent in until this week. When I finally did start to get the materials together, I kept getting hung up on ridiculously simple details. For example, one line requires the applicant to enter their name exactly as it appears on a valid government I.D. My driver’s license has my last name first, but I’m so used to writing my name in the normal order, I originally wrote it first name first on the form, before I realized “exactly as it appears” may mean last name first. This may not even matter, but it’s the sort of minutia that stresses me out when I fill out this kind of paperwork that seems to demand 100% accuracy.
As far as actually getting my official transcript, it was generally easy, but there were a couple of minor hoops to jump through. My alma mater, Arizona State University, makes ordering transcripts pretty simple through the school’s website, as I’m guessing most universities do these days. The only problem was that I hadn’t been on the website in a couple of years, so I had forgotten my username and password. After quite a few attempts to log on using my best guesses, I finally gave up and clicked on the “forgot my username” link. The website sent my username and password to the email I had linked to my school website, which, of course, was an email address I also stopped using regularly years ago. Fortunately, I had checked that email a little bit more recently by chance, so I was able to get in after only a couple of tries and get my ASU ID and password. From there it was only a few clicks to select the official transcript, enter my current address, and pay the required fee (universities have almost as many fees as the patent office), and it was on its way.
Paying the required fees was another simple process made more complicated by PTO. The instructions for applying seem to strongly recommend payment by money order, certified or cashier’s check or Treasury note, which are all perfectly reasonable, but the obviously simpler payment method is by credit card. Of course, PTO allows credit card payment, but spends a whole paragraph complicating the matter by saying that credit card payments must be made using the PTO’s form or they’ll give away your credit card number and sell your phone number to telemarketers (or something like that). So, that was another form to fill out/stress out over.
Having sent my application with an official transcript, my credit card information, and the required credit card payment form, I now get to spend the next few weeks stressing about whether I’ll be able to sit for the exam when I want to in mid-December so as not to have to think about studying over the holidays.
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