January 1981: Patent Resources Institute formally commences in Washington, DC. The institute was the first organized instructional and educational institution of any kind for the training of engineers and scientists to engage in patent practice, and the first institution in the United States with a graduate program for attorneys leading to the degree of Master of Patent Law. At the time, Irving Kayton stated that "no practitioner functioning today has ever been exposed to the variety of subjects and the depth in each subject required for the Master's degrees … The holder of a Master's degree from The Graduate School of Patent Resources Institute will be a genuinely new species of practitioner."
April 1982: The United States establishes the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on April 2, 1982. In response, PRG offers the first course on the subject of the Federal Circuit Court in 1984. The course remains a favorite of PRG advanced course participants to this day.
January 1983: The second edition of the now indispensable treatise, Patent Preparation & Prosecution Practice, is published by Patent Resources Group.
1984: The USPTO consolidates the Boards of Patent Appeals and Interferences into a single entity.
October 1984: In the United States it becomes possible to settle interferences through arbitration. Within five months, PRG offers a completely redesigned course on patent interferences in response to the new legislation.
January 1986: The third edition of the now indispensable treatise, Patent Preparation & Prosecution Practice, is published by Patent Resources Group. Its title is changed to Patent Practice.
April 1986: Patent Resources Group creates a new division at the company with the name Legal Resources Group, Inc. The division offers several courses at the PRG Advanced Course Program in Hilton Head, South Carolina. These courses include "The Business and Law of Start-Ups," "Joint Ventures and Acquisitions," "Employer/Employee Technology Contracts for Corporate and General Practitioners," and "Taxation of Intellectual Property." Subsequently, PRG re-focuses its mission on patent law and becomes the leading educator dedicated exclusively to the patent community.
In the same month, PRG introduces the "Electronics & Computer Patent Practice" course.
October 1986: Patent Resources Institute begins a "PRI-Opinions" subscription service, which provides immediate access to published Federal Circuit (CAFC) opinions relating to patent law.
April 1987: The USPTO has private patent attorneys draft Patent Exam questions. The national examination pass rate drops to 25% for the April 1987 exam. PRG students continue to pass the exam at an elevated rate because the PRG course is administered, designed and continually surveyed for improvement by a patent attorney in a patent educational organization with no interest, activities, or obligations other than patent law.
April 1989: The United States implements Chapter II of PCT in 1987. By April of 1989, PRG offers a course titled "Worldwide Patenting (From the U.S.) via PCT Chapter II." Today, the current "Basic Patent Cooperation Treaty Practice" and the "Advanced Patent Cooperation Treaty Practice" courses remain incredibly popular among PRG attendees.
October 1989: The PRI-Opinions subscription service now includes unpublished Federal Circuit (CAFC) opinions. The service is discontinued after 1990.