PREPARING FOR THE EQE

The EQE is hard. I won’t try to convince you otherwise – you have probably already seen how the EPO, in their EQE Guide for preparation, present the EQE as “widely regarded as one of the most difficult and demanding professional examinations, both intellectually and physically”. If that hasn’t scared you, the EQE statistics may have – Joeri Beetz presents them nicely (albeit slightly scarily) on the StatistEQE webpage. As it says in the EQE study guide: The low success rate of first-time candidates is “frustrating for candidates, their families, supervisors, tutors and employers alike”. Frustrating, indeed. However, if you put in the work, it is definitely possible to pass the EQE. Here are some of my tips for preparing for the EQE:

1. Start studying early

My first and definitely most important tip is to start studying early. Start earlier than you think. I first started working with IP exactly three years and one month before I would sit the EQE in 2021, and when I was invited to join my colleagues’ EQE study group during my very first week at work, I didn’t know whether to laugh or panic. But I am very happy that I joined it; being forced to answer D-style questions is very effective motivation for studying.

More importantly, I found that fully grasping the different concepts and getting a good understanding of the EPC and the PCT took not only effort, but also time. While working as a patent attorney will teach you about certain aspects, typically the more frequently encountered ones, actually studying the EPC and answering questions that test your knowledge will give you more complete understanding. Further, having time to process and ponder the information will help deepening that understanding. So I suggest you just dive right into it – start reading your annotated EPC and solving D-style questions. For the latter, I found the DeltaPatents books incredibly helpful, and would recommend starting with the “L” book the first year, and then moving on to the “D” book some time during your second year, well before the pre-examination. Practice as if you are preparing for paper D the whole time, rather than for the pre-exam.

2. Realise that the pre-exam is considerably easier than the main exams

The reason for my statement above about practicing for paper D the entire time is the fact that the level of the pre-exam is not necessarily the level you want to be on two years into your studies. Personally, I was one of the “lucky” ones who did not sit the pre-exam due to COVID, but I did of course practice for it – and in my opinion, the pre-exam is too easy compared to the four exams that you will be taking just a year later. It is definitely a hurdle that you will need to pass, so I am not suggesting that you do not prepare for it – but make sure that you do not focus too much time on the multiple choice, no independent drafting, no legal basis-form of the pre-exam at the cost of studying for the main exams.

An effective and not too time-consuming way of studying for the pre-exam is solving past pre-exam papers. You can find these in the EQE compendium of past exams, but beware: The old papers are not updated with regards to changes in the law. Alternatively, you can get the DeltaPatents “P” book, which is updated. And again – practice the D-style questions.

3. Take courses

Studying for the EQE is hard, and figuring the whole thing out on your own must be extremely difficult. So take courses, and make sure that they are good courses tailored to the exams you will be sitting. I took a number of the DeltaPatents courses (DeltaPatents are not paying me to keep mentioning them, I promise – I just really liked their courses and material!), and found these to be very helpful. I also joined the “Free EQE Webinar Series” group on LinkedIn, which allowed me to follow some fantastic webinars by Iain Russell and Guy Warner – I don’t know if they will keep giving these webinars, but if they do, make sure not to miss them. I also did the EPO’s “Daily D” questions, where you answer one D-type question every weekday for 12 weeks and get feedback from a tutor at the end of each week. Highly recommended for practicing how to reply to the questions quickly (you will be stressed because you are doing this on top of your normal workload, which in this respect is a bonus) and receiving feedback on your answering style.

4. Prepare your reference material well

… and realise that you can’t read everything. If you start looking around on the internet attempting to figure out what you should read in preparation for the EQE, you will find enough books, documents, summaries, study guides, etc, etc, etc, to keep you occupied for years. Unless you are planning to spend all your waking time studying for the EQE – which will probably lead to some kind of mental breakdown, so not a good idea – you will have to make choices with regards to your study material. For me, that meant accepting that I would not and could not read e.g., the whole of EPO Guidelines, AG-IP, AG-NP, the Case Law Book, and certain other materials. I’m not saying that I did not use or read them at all – because I did when answering questions and in my everyday work – but I did not study each and every part of them and reference them, as some suggest you do. Instead, I focussed on really reading and familiarising myself with my books of choice, and put in the majority of my efforts on these.

My preferred books were Derk Visser’s Annotated European Patent Convention, and The Cross-Referenced Patent Cooperation Treaty by Cees Mulder. Because the PCT is horrible, I also used a printed copy of the Euro-PCT Guide, which made the PCT a tiny bit more accessible. I chose Visser’s book over Jelle Hoekstra’s one, References to the European Patent Convention, because I liked how it is more “readable” – but I know many prefer the latter. I read my reference books at least twice, because – at least for me – the first read-through of this kind of material doesn’t really make all that much sense. I continually updated the books as I used them – adding references to e.g. the Guidelines or important T or G decisions, adding words to the index where I felt that they were missing, etc. My second or third time reading a book, I would underline important parts of the text using different coloured pencils: Yellow for things the applicant/proprietor has to do, red for the consequences of not doing these things, green for means of redress, blue for anything relating to fees, purple for things relating to priority, etc. That made it considerably quicker and easier for me to find the information I was looking for when using the book, and it also improved my focus when studying. If you are going for a similar system, I would recommend doing this as early as possible after receiving the updated version of your reference books, allowing you to practice using your nicely colour-coded books.

Also, make templates – I will talk more about those in my article about the individual exams.

5. Start studying early, vol. 2

I am really going on about this, aren’t I? Volume 2 of the “start studying early” tip is to start practicing for papers A, B, and C earlier than you think, too. The courses for the main exams are typically given in the autumn/winter leading up to the exams, leaving students with just a few months to learn and develop their exam techniques, prepare their templates, and practice old papers before the exams. Even if you already have practiced quite a bit for paper DI, papers DII and A-C certainly require some work. So rather than doing it all in that short time, I would recommend spreading it out in time. Of course, the courses will be very helpful anyway – but, in my opinion, they are even more helpful if you have already done a few past exams, started thinking about your templates, and know some of your strengths and weaknesses.

6. Find your people

If possible, find a group of EQE candidates that you can discuss with, study with, attend courses with – and, more importantly, that will understand how sick you are of studying and suggest you drink wine or eat chocolate instead. Talking to someone that is going through the same as you makes everything easier. Also, I imagine that having a mentor – preferably someone who has passed the EQE themselves – who can help and coach you, would be very helpful.

7. Have a plan

Make a study plan. You should be prepared to change it several times, because planning for three years is pretty impossible, but I still recommend that you make it – at least for your last year. Having a plan takes some of the stress out of the EQE experience. Also, it is nice to save some of the newest of the “old” exams for the last weeks before your actual exams, because these are typically going to be the most similar to the ones you will be sitting. (But don’t save 2021 B, because it is just scary and confusing, and you don’t want that in your last weeks.)

8. Don’t let the EQE take over your life

Spend time with your family. Eat well. Get enough sleep. Go out with your friends. Your job is not your life, and the EQE – which is just a part of your job – is definitely not.