1990: Patent Resources Group opens a satellite office in Charlottesville, Virginia. The main office remains in Washington, DC until 1994, when it is finally moved to Charlottesville.
August 1990: Professor Irving Kayton publishes a chart that suggests the optimum sequence of taking PRG courses. It is published in a brochure for the 1990 Annual August Institute (now the August Advanced Courses Program). Many patent attorneys and agents follow this approach to lifelong learning.
The fourth edition of Patent Practice is published by Patent Resources Group. The treatise is incorporated into seven volumes and includes contributions from nine exceptional patent attorneys including the now legendary Professor Irving Kayton.
July 1991: By July of 1991, Patent Resources Group has sold 6,000 sets of Patent Practice since 1976.
August 1991: PRG offers the new "Biotechnology Patent Practice Workshop" course. The course in its current form is now taught at the April Advanced Course Program.
April 1992: PRG offers two new courses: "Contingent Fee Patent Litigation & Licensing" and "European Patent Law & Practice." These two courses have now grown to three very popular courses and are taught at PRG Advanced Course Programs.
August 1992: PRG offers the new "Docketing & Organization for USPTO and PCT Proceedings" course. Also, PRG begins teaching the Patent Bar Review Course in California for the first time.
January 1993: PRG offers the new "Designing Around" course, which becomes a perennial favorite. In addition, the fifth edition of Patent Practice
is published.
April 1993: PRG offers the new "Japanese Patent Prosecution" course.
August 1993: PRG celebrates its 25th Anniversary.
February 1994: Patent Resources Group relocates to a larger office in Charlottesville, Virginia. In addition, more than 60% of the 10,000 patent practitioners practicing in the United States have relied on Patent Practice
to prepare themselves for both the exam and patent prosecution support. By 1994, more than 8,500 sets of Patent Practice have been sold since 1976.
January 1995: Patent Resources Group begins a Book Club subscription service for Advanced Course texts. The book club is eventually discontinued, but today PRG continues to sell its advanced texts upon request.
In addition, PRG offers four new Advanced Courses related to the Uruguay Round negotiations for the revision of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
February 1995: PRG offers the new "U.S. Patent Term Extension & Diminution Practice" course in response to a patent term amendment to 35 USC that occurred in June of 1985.
Additionally, PRG offers the new "Patent Term Extension" course in response to new patent terms of 20 years from the earliest filing date, instead of 17 years from grant.
April 1995: PRG offers the new "Patent Damages" course. In addition, PRG offers an "Advanced Patent Cooperation Treaty Practice (PCT)" course.
July 1995: The Advanced Patent Course Program is held in Maui, Hawaii and offers three Pacific Rim-based courses and three courses on recent GATT changes.
December 1995: The sixth edition of Patent Practice
is published in Japanese.
January 1996: Patent Resources Group initiates a search for a CEO to complement Professor Irving Kayton.
In addition, PRG publishes two monographs on passing the USPTO exam and includes them with Patent Bar Review course materials. They have the titles "How to Pass the Objective Questions Half of the PTO Exam" (the "red monograph") and "How to Write Indisputably Exam-Passing Claims for the U.S. Patent Office".
In response to changes in the Patent Exam, PRG offers a new two-day, claims-only course for home study.
April 1996: PRG offers two additional advanced courses related to the Uruguay Round negotiations for the revision of GATT. They include "Term Extending Ex Parte Practice" and "Patent Malpractice."
1997: The USPTO announces changes to the Patent Exam format, eliminating the subjective claim writing afternoon session. All questions on the exam are objective. PRG revises the red monograph in response to the new examination format.
At the request of the USPTO, PRG continues to teach the two-part claims instruction (nine hours of lectures on claims and four hours of the claims writing workshop).
April 1997: PRG offers the new "Patent Alternative Dispute Resolution" and "Trial of a Patent Infringement Case" courses.
July 1997: PRG begins teaching the Patent Bar Review Course in Chicago for the first time. In addition, PRG creates the Patent Resources Group website.
January 1998: In 1997, a whopping 88% of Patent Resources Group students pass the Patent Exam on the first attempt. The PRG pass rate is more than double the nearest competitor's.
In addition, the USPTO announces that, as of August 1998, anyone who does not pass both sessions of the exam must retake the entire exam. In 1999, examinees receive one score for the entire exam.
February 1998: PRG offers the Patent Bar Review course on video for the first time.
April 1998: PRG offers the new "Lanham Act Law & Litigation" course.
June 1998: Patent Resources Group students continue to report the highest pass rates on the Patent Exam. The PRG Patent Bar Review Course leads all other exam preparation programs by a wide margin. In addition, students of the three leading programs score PRG as the highest rated provider in all five categories: instructional materials, quality of the lecturers, comfort of the physical facilities, course organization, and overall value.
January 1999: In another industry first, PRG offers the highly acclaimed ExamWare® test preparation software on CD-ROM exclusively to its Patent Bar Review Course students.
April 1999: PRG offers the new "Internet Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secret Practice," "Basic Patent Infringement Litigation," and "Software Patents" courses.
August 1999: PRG offers the new "Crafting & Drafting Winning Patents" course, which remains incredibly popular with Advanced Course attendees.