Deciding when to apply is a function of (a) how far you have advanced in your exam preparation schedule; and (b) how long the USPTO's Office of Enrollment & Discipline ("OED") will take in processing your application to sit for the exam. Many aspects of your educational, technical, or residency background can affect the speed with which OED is able to process your application.

Once OED approves your application, you must take the examination, if it is computer-based, within 90 days. Details and exam applications are available at the OED website.

A paper examination is administered annually at the USPTO in Alexandria, VA, typically in July. Consult the OED website for details.

PRG recommends studying the materials in the same format in which you plan to take the exam, i.e., computer-based exam takers should use the MPEP and Q&As that are a part of ExamWare®.

• Registration for Courses: Registration forms are available in PRG brochures and on this website. All registrations, to be complete, must be accompanied by the tuition fee, payable by check or credit card authorization (VISA, MasterCard and American Express are accepted). Telephone registrations are not accepted; and, for classroom courses, there will be no registration at the door. Registrations will be accepted in the order of receipt at PRG’s office and are limited by supplies of instructional materials and, for the classroom courses, by the capacity of available lecture hall facilities.
• Confirmation of Course Registrations: Each person from whom a completed course registration, including tuition payment, is received and accepted by PRG will promptly receive an email specifically stating and confirming that such person is registered for the course. Without that confirmation email, no person should assume that he or she has been accepted for the course. Video Course registrations also will be acknowledged by email.

• Transfer Policies for Classroom and Video Courses
  • Classroom Patent Bar Review Registrants: If you originally registered for a Classroom Bar Review Course, you may transfer to a different Classroom Bar Review Course to be held within 6 months after your original Classroom Course registration (course availability and space permitting), or to a Video Course. You must make your transfer request in writing (by email or facsimile) and the request must be received at PRG no later than 5 p.m. Eastern time five business days before the Classroom Course for which you originally registered. You can still transfer to another class up until 5 p.m. Eastern time on the last business day prior to the start of your classroom course, but we will charge a 15% fee to cover the administrative costs associated with your transfer.
  • Video Patent Bar Review Course Registrant Transfer: If you originally registered for a Video Course, you may transfer to a Classroom Course that is to be held within 6 months after your original Video Course registration (course availability and space permitting), with the full tuition amount paid to be applied to the appropriate Classroom Course tuition, only if a written transfer request is received and the DVD-Rs (and lecture charts) are returned and received at the PRG office in resalable condition (defined below) within 15 days of their delivery to the shipping address provided in your registration form. If such 15 days expire without PRG's receipt of a transfer request and the receipt of the returned DVD-Rs (and lecture charts), a Video Course registrant may still transfer to a Classroom Course that is to be held within 6 months after the registration for the Video Course (course availability and space permitting), but the Video lecture portion of tuition paid will not be applied to the Classroom lectures, and an additional payment for the in-Classroom lecture portion will be required.
  • Advanced Program Course Registrant: If you prefer to attend a different Advanced Program course than the one you originally registered for, you may transfer to a different PRG Advanced Course (course availability and space permitting). Your transfer request must be in writing and must be received in PRG’s office prior to 5 p.m. Eastern time on the earlier of (i) the last business day before the course from which transfer is requested, or (ii) the last business day before the course to which transfer is requested. The written transfer request may be submitted via facsimile, email or postal service (provided it is received at PRG’s offices by the deadlines set out above). In addition to your written transfer request, please contact the PRG Registrars for advice regarding transfer or return of course texts you may already have received.
  • Information for All Transfers: No administrative fee is ever charged for a course transfer if the transfer request is received prior to the deadline as outlined above. However, only one transfer per student is permitted. In a transfer to a later course, it is possible that new or additional course materials will be required to properly participate in the course (either because of changes that may be made by the USPTO in the future to the subject matter of the exam for Bar Review registrants or updated texts for Advanced courses).
• Substitution Policy for Classroom Courses: In lieu of canceling, a registrant may have a substitute attend the course in the registrant’s place. Written notice of such substitution must be received in the PRG office by 5 p.m. Eastern time on the last business day before the course. Course materials must be physically transferred by the first registrant to the substitute. No additional materials will be available at the classroom course for the substitute attendee.

CANCELLATION AND REFUND POLICIES FOR CLASSROOM AND VIDEO PATENT BAR REVIEW COURSES:

1. REFUNDS
   1. FOR A CLASSROOM COURSE: A full refund is available if:
      1. written cancellation notice (by email or facsimile) is received in the PRG office no later than the pertinent registration deadline, as described on the applicable Classroom Course Registration Form or website page; AND
      2. all course materials are returned and received at the PRG office in resalable condition (defined below) within 15 calendar days of the delivery to the course registrant. Returns received after this 15-day period will not be entitled to a full refund.
   2. FOR A VIDEO COURSE: A full refund is available if:
      1. written notice of cancellation (by email or facsimile) is received in PRG's office within 15 days of delivery of course materials to the registrant; AND
      2. all course materials, including all DVD-Rs (and their lecture charts), are returned and received at the PRG office in resalable condition (defined below) within 15 calendar days of the delivery of course materials to the registrant. Returns received after this 15-day period will not be entitled to a full refund.
2. TUITION CREDIT FOR APPLICATION TO A FUTURE PRG COURSE
   The registrant may request that the refundable amount be retained by PRG to create a tuition credit, which may be applied toward tuition for a future PRG course (whether a Patent Bar Review Course or an Advanced Course). The tuition credit will be issued in the name of the registrant if personal funds were used for the tuition or in the name of the registrant’s organization if the tuition was paid by the organization; and will be valid for 2 years from the date of issuance.
3. RESALABLE CONDITION
   For both the Classroom and Video Courses, "resalable condition" means:
   1. the printed matter (including lecture charts) has not been marked-up, highlighted, or otherwise damaged;
   2. the tape seal on Professor Kayton’s PTO ExamWare® CD-ROM is unbroken and without activation; and
   3. the DVD-Rs (if applicable) are returned with tape seal unbroken and without activation.

CANCELLATION AND REFUND POLICES FOR ADVANCED PROGRAM COURSES:

Notice to PRG - Written cancellation notice must be delivered to PRG by email or facsimile. (As a safeguard, please call us at 434-974-1700, to make sure that your cancellation notice facsimile has been received.)

Refund – Beginning with the October 2009 Advanced Program registration for an Advanced Course may be cancelled for a full tuition refund or tuition credit if written cancellation notice is received in the PRG office no later than three weeks prior to the first day of the Program. Cancellation notices received in the PRG office less than three weeks prior to the first day of class are subject to a cancellation fee of 15% of the course tuition. Registrants may apply the remaining 85% of the course tuition as a tuition credit for a future PRG Advanced Course or receive an 85% tuition refund. If, at the time of cancellation, the registrant registers for an upcoming PRG Advanced Course, the 15% cancellation fee is waived and the full tuition is applied to the upcoming Advanced Course. (Registration deadlines are shown on the PRG website; are also shown in the printed brochure announcing the course; and may also be obtained by calling PRG at 434-974-1700.) Refund conditions for certain courses require return of the course text to PRG offices; in other instances, the course text may be retained for a reduction in refundable tuition. (See details at Return of Advanced Course Texts below.)

PRG Tuition Credit Record - The tuition credit will be issued in the name of the registrant if personal funds were used for the tuition or in the name of the registrant’s organization if the tuition was paid by the organization; and will be valid for 2 years from the date of issuance.

No Refund or Tuition Credit Record - No tuition will be refunded and no tuition credit will be issued unless timely written notice of cancellation is received at PRG.

Return of Advanced Course Texts - Except for those courses listed below, a canceling registrant may elect to return or retain the course text. Retention of the text or failure to return the text in a resalable condition within 10 days of the first notice of cancellation will result in a reduction of the refund or PRG tuition credit record in the amount of the purchase price of the course text. However, please note course text(s) must be returned to PRG as an additional requirement for any refund or PRG tuition credit record for the courses listed below. The course text or texts (and any related materials) must be returned and received by PRG in resalable condition within 10 days of the first notice of cancellation for these courses:

1. Workshop: How To Craft, Draft & Prosecute Patents That Win at the Federal Circuit;
2. Patent Infringement Litigation;
3. Comprehensive PCT Practice;
4. Creating & Enforcing FDA Orange Book Listable Small Molecule U.S. Patents; and
5. Art & Science of Patent Searching.

From time to time, other courses may be added to the list of those for which texts must be returned. If you must cancel your Advanced Course registration, please call the PRG office at 434-974-1700 to determine if your course text must be returned to qualify you for a refund or a PRG tuition credit record and the credit amount.

PRG Classroom Courses are accredited regularly by all state bar agencies which require continuing legal education participation of their members or are awarded CLE credit at an individual attorney’s request. Many states do not grant CLE credit for video courses. PRG Video Course registrants interested in CLE credit should contact their individual state bars to determine whether their states do grant CLE credit, and to pursue obtaining such credit if available. Based upon past experience, virtually all states should grant CLE credit for PRG's Patent Bar Review Classroom Courses in the amount (not guaranteed) of 46 total hours, including 1.5 hours for ethics. For Advanced Program Courses, virtually all states should grant CLE credit for the course in the amount of hours indicated on the course description on our website or in our brochures.

Each attorney admitted to a state bar having mandatory CLE requirements should indicate that state on the Classroom Patent Bar Review Registration Form so that required documentation of the attorney’s attendance may be furnished by PRG to the appropriate jurisdiction, or to the attorney, at the end of the course. PRG undertakes this procedure solely for Classroom Course attendees.

PRG is an Approved CLE Provider under California mandatory CLE rules. Patent Resources Group certifies that all of its courses conform to the standards for approved education activities prescribed by the rules and regulations of the State Bar of California governing minimum continuing legal education.

All inquiries specific to CLE should be directed to PRG’s CLE Administrator at cleadmin@patentresources.com.

Please provide your active CLE information (states and bar ID numbers) when registering for a course. This will allow PRG to apply for CLE state approval in a timely manner and avoid incurring late fees.

• Purchase Orders: Government and corporate purchase orders are not accepted in lieu of payment.
• Recording of Lectures Not Permitted: To ensure free, full and frank presentations by the faculty, as well as comments and questions from the audience, recording of any part of any PRG Course is prohibited. Agreement not to record is a condition for each registrant’s attendance and of PRG’s acceptance of each Course registration. Note-taking on the lecture charts is highly recommended; complimentary legal writing pads are also provided by PRG.
• Laptop Computers in Lecture Hall: Laptop computers are highly pilferable items and should not be left unattended.