D 2024: first impressions?
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To all who sat the D-paper today:
What are your first impressions to this year's D-paper? Any general or specific comments?
How did this year's D-paper compare to the earlier online D papers of 2021 - 2023?
Were the D1 questions and the D2 part similar as to its subjects and difficulty as the last few years (apart from the ratio this year being 55:45 as in 2023, but different from 2022's 45:55, 2021's 50:50 or the earlier 40:60)?
Did you appreciate the longer the questions (only 5 questions for 55 marks, and in the first part at least one question of 13 marks or more)?
How did the split of the paper into 3 parts influence your exam?
Was the additional 20% of time for doing each of the D1 parts and the D2 part sufficient to compensate for the restrictions caused by the fixed time schedule of 3 parts?
How did you use the breaks? Could you forget about the finished part and free your mind for the next part in each break? Were the breaks long enough?
Did you also take any unscheduled breaks?
Were the topics well balanced in the D1-part? Was the balance between EPC and PCT right for you? Any substantive topics in D1 (e.g., partial priority; disclaimers; plants; double patenting)?
Any (expected or unexpected) recent legal changes in D1 (double patenting G 4/19; Rule 28(2) EPC, G 3/19 and the relevance of 1/7/2017; PCT Rule 20.5bis with or without the reservation that the EPO had; amended Rule 56 and new Rule 56a; ADA2022; Unitary Patent - request incl translation requirement, renewals)?
Which of the the D1 Questions did you consider particularly difficult, and which relatively 'easy'?
Did you skip any D1-questions? If so, why (e.g., too difficult, allocating the time for another question, no time left)?
Did you use the legal texts that were available online (EPO legal texts, PCT Applicant's Guide, PCT Treaty)? Which, how?
Did you need Rule 126(2)/127(2) and 131(2)? Which version did you use, the old or the current version (see here)?
Were the legal issues in the D2-part well doable? Amount of information? Complexity of the inventions/subject-matter? Patentability? Difficult priority analysis? Divisional issues? Opposition? Appeal - reformatio in peuis? Non-standard topics (disclaimers, double patenting, plants)? Non-standard claim formats? Unitary effect (request, renewals, ...)? Opt-out from UPC? Business situation and relevance clear? Exploitation?
Did you experience any technical difficulties during the exam? How & how fast were they solved? Did you use the widget to contact the invigilator?
Please be reminded that, if you wish to lodge a complaint pursuant to point I.8. of the Instructions to candidates concerning the conduct of the examination , you must do so at the latest by the end of the day on which the paper concerned takes place, by filling in the dedicated form on the EQE website. The Form for paper D is (only) available on 05.03.2024, 16:45 - 23:59, CET.
The paper and our answers
Copies of the paper will be provided on this blog as soon as we have received copies of the papers, preferably in all three languages (English, French and German). Should you have a copy, please send it to any of our tutors or to training@deltapatents.com. Update (7-3-2024): the paper is aialbale on the EQE compendium page, here.
The core of our answers is given in two separate blog posts, one for D1 and one for D2.
The core of our answers is given in two separate blog posts, one for D1 and one for D2.
Please be reminded that you can view and print/download copy of your exam answer after the exam, via the eye below the "1. Paper"-icon in the bottom left part of the flow window of the respective flow. (It may not be available immediately after the official end of the (part of the) paper, but only 30-60 minutes later.) The paper itself cannot be downloaded (unless you copied it in full into your exam answer).
We look forward to your comments!
Please do not post your comments anonymously - it is allowed, but it makes responding more difficult and rather clumsy ("Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms Anonymous of 07-03-2023 19:20"), whereas using your real name or a nickname is more personal, more interesting and makes a more attractive conversation. You do not need to log in or make an account - it is OK to just put your (nick) name at the end of your post.
Active discussion is appreciated; inappropriate content (non-respectful, offensive, impolite) will, if spotted, be removed by the system or by the blog team.
Please post your comments as to first impressions and general remarks to the D-paper as a whole, and to the two parts (D1 and D2) as whole part to this blog.
Please post substantial comments/questions to specific D1 questions to the D1 post with some of our considerations / our answer and D2-related questions to the D2 post with some of our consideration/ our answer, once available. Thanks!
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I sat the D exam as a benchmarker, as some other epi members.
ReplyDeleteThe menu bar of the editor got lost a few times. It did not restore by itself, e.g., not when typing. I could restore it with the Refresh arrow in Wiseflow, but when I used that a second time I was asked for the Invigilator password -- the latter happened to me during D1.1, again during D1.2, and again during D2. It seems a flaw in Wiseflow (a normal use of Wiseflow's Refresh button shall not lead to an interruption in the exam due to the need to wait for the invigilator).
After I got the invigilator password and used it to get back into the flow, the invigilator widget on the bottom right disappeared, but I did get some audio signals that messages were shown there - which however I could not see and in view of the above I did not dare to refresh. I had to do most of my D2 without the menu bar, and hence could not use annotation, formatting, bullet list, headers, ..., i.e. none of the Wiseflow goodies that I am always using. Did others have this same issue? .
I did not have this issue.
DeleteLooking forward to seeing your answers.
i gad the same issue.
DeleteAfter refreshing and contacting invigilator the problem wasn't solved. I did most od the D2 part without menu bar.
Dear Roel, unfortunately I had extreme technical problems. I don't know how, but while typing I got a wrong key combination. Then my keyboard jammed and I couldn't type anymore. I lost several minutes on the first D1 part until I got a response from the Invilgator. After the refresh nothing happened either. The window closed and I had to log in to Wiseflow again. Then a second line person came over chat...whatever that means. I got the password, but was then able to continue working. But I was under so much psychological pressure and panicked, so my answers to the first two questions were completely off. To be honest, I was on the verge of crying. It's a disaster.
DeleteStefano
DeleteI notice me too training on wisewflow with past papers. I was be alble to figure out to refresh in order to get it reappeared.
DeleteFor Paper D is not a big problem but for paper A and B where "format" of text is more demanding could be a problem
I did not have any problems with the editor but the assignement was too slow at opening in a new window, for every part it took at least 1min to open. I am thinking if I should report it...
DeleteI also had the issue with opening the assignment, took at least a minute or two for each part, so probably safe to say that 5 minutes in total were lost.
DeleteIn my case it was not the same as you describe, but it happened often today that when coming back into the editor after looking into a different tab (such as PCT-AG), the editor screen was fully white (whole screen) and 'dead', and needed some time before everything was back to normal. Which is bad for cardiac health...
DeleteAnd what I really not liked: I like to copy-paste the whole DII into the editor, but quite some sentences were mixed up. So not just added 'enters', but (especially where bullets were used) little parts of the text disappeared into next sentences or next paragraphs. Never had this before, so first had to repair like four places, checking side by side with the PDF... Should not be needed to lose time for such issues.
I have the technical issue about unauthorized keyboard combination during D-II
DeleteThe first time I was annotate the exam paper using only mouse. When I returned to text Editor, it told me that there is an unauthorized keyboard touch detected. I have no idea what happened.
The second time, I was using backspace to delete wrongly typed text and then the window warning unauthorized keyboard connection jumped out and freeze my session. It took me a few minutes to get the password and continue the exam.
After that, I was so scared when using Caps Lock or Backspace and have no idea whether will it influence my Exam.
You can consider to file a complaint if Wiseflow behaved unexpectedly to your disadvantage and made you loose marks.
DeleteYou need to describe what happened and indicate what type of compensation you want. You also need to give details about your setup, so they can check whether it is due to a specific hardware etc.
The complaint form is on the EQE wegsite, under the fold-our section "EQE online".
Currently, that section says:
"Complaint concerning the conduct of the examination
Candidates wishing to lodge a complaint pursuant to point I.8. of the Instructions to candidates concerning the conduct of the examination must do so at the latest by the end of the day on which the last examination paper takes place (15 March 2024, 23:59 CET), by filling in the dedicated form:
Form for the pre-examination (available from 15.03.2024, 9:30, CET)
Form for paper A (available from 07.03.2024, 9:30, CET)
Form for paper B (available from 12.03.2024, 9:30, CET)
Form for paper C (available from 14.03.2024, 9:30, CET)
Form for paper D (available from 05.03.2024, 9:30, CET)"
The D complaint link is: https://forms.office.com/e/c8vHpqJ5E7.
This gets you to a Form with the header:
"EQE 2024 - Complaint form concerning the conduct of the examination (Paper D)
Candidates wishing to lodge a complaint pursuant to point I.8. of the Instructions to candidates concerning the conduct of the examination must do so at the latest by the end of the day on which the last examination paper takes place (15 March 2024, 23:59 CET), by filling in this form."
A candidate informed me that on Monday, 11 March (so after paper D and paper A, but just before paper B and paper C), the EQE secretariat had send the following email:
Delete"From: helpdesk
Sent: 11 March 2024 11:[nn]
To: [Candidates]
Subject: EQE 2024 - Important information / EEP 2024 - Wichtige Information / EEQ 2024 - informations importantes
Dear candidate,
Some users have informed us that, when performing a certain key stroke, e.g. the key “PageUp” in a standard full-size desktop keyboard, the toolbar for formatting the text in the editor of the lockdown browser may temporarily disappear.
Should this happen, the toolbar can be restored by clicking the “Pause participation” button, which is located towards the top-right corner of the screen, below the indication of the time left. By clicking “Resume participation”, the toolbar re-appears when typing normally in the text editor.
****
Sehr geehrte/r Bewerber/in,
einige Nutzer haben uns informiert, dass ein bestimmter Tastendruck, z.B. „Seite hoch“ auf einer Standard-Desktop-Tastatur in voller Größe, dazu führen kann, dass die Symbolleiste zur Formatierung des Textes im Editor des Lockdown-Browsers zeitweise verschwindet.
Sollte dies passieren, kann die Symbolleiste wiederhergestellt werden, indem Sie auf die Schaltfläche "Teilnahme unterbrechen" klicken, die sich in der oberen rechten Ecke des Bildschirms unterhalb der Anzeige der verbleibenden Zeit befindet. Nach dem Klicken auf "Teilnahme fortsetzen" erscheint die Symbolleiste wieder, sobald Sie im Texteditor tippen.
***
Madame, Monsieur,
Certains utilisateurs ont signalé que, en utilisant une certaine frappe, par exemple la touche "PageUp" d'un clavier de bureau standard pleine taille, la barre d'outils permettant de formater le texte dans l'éditeur du navigateur Lockdown peut disparaître temporairement.
Dans ce cas, la barre d'outils peut être restaurée en cliquant sur le bouton "Pause de la participation", situé dans le coin supérieur droit de l'écran, en dessous de l'indication du temps restant. En cliquant sur "Reprendre la participation", la barre d'outils réapparaît lorsque l'on tape normalement dans l'éditeur de texte.
Best regards / Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Sincères salutations
European Qualifying Examination EQE
European Patent Office
80298 Munich | Germany
Tel. +49 (0)89 2399 5155 (Mon, Wed-Fri 09.00-11.00 hrs, Tues 14.00-15.30 hrs)
Fax +49 (0)89 2399 5140
helpdesk@eqe.org
www.epo.org
Please consider the environment before printing this email."
In D1.1, I got a pop-up "15 minutes remaining until submission deadline", which showed for a few seconds and then quickly disappeared. (I did not see it in D1.2: maybe it was not there at all, or it disappeared before I noted it?) It is much appreciated that such reminders are given!
ReplyDeleteI did not see the reminder for the first two parts, but only for the last part. I am not sure whether or not it appeared.
DeleteI also did not see the reminder
DeleteI would have appreciated a better reminder system to be honest - a bigger pop up and sound. The notification sound from the invigilator was so loud, I don’t see why an actual helpful sound couldn’t be provided!
DeleteI did not have such reminder. It is unfair!
DeleteThe menu bar issue was happening the last month also with past paper. I guess they did not manage to fix it
ReplyDeleteI never saw it in preparation for EQE 2021, 2022 or 2023 - for which I used the same hardware (laptop and its camera, external 23" screen, USB keyboard, USB mouse, USB speaker). We got a few reports recently, which were also reported to Wiseflow.
DeleteThe mandem running the EQE seriously overcooked part 2
ReplyDeleteD-2 Q3 and Q4 referred to "silk" in general, not specifying whether the silk refers to the harvesting method used in each location in particular.
ReplyDeleteWas not "silk" the harvested product, and not the harvesting method? Did they not test Art. 64(2) EPC?
Deleteproduct by process is less relevant in this case because the products are identical.
DeleteThe questions were written ambiguously. they refer only to "silk".
Any person or company can sell or harvest "silk" in general anywhere, unless there are specific regulations unrelated to patents.
"silk" can be manufactured or harvested in multiple ways unrelated to any of the patents or applications. this is why the questions are not clear.
I do not agree. The claims are to a method for harvesting spider silk. This is a method claim, i.e., a process claim. Thisn is not a product claim, hence not a product-by-process claim.
DeleteThis method claim gives protection for the method, as well as to products directly obtained from the method - see art. 64(2) EPC.
When you execute a method for harvesting spider silk, you obtain spider silk.
So, to me, D-2, Q3 and Q4, reading "... importing the spider silk harvested in ... " are perfectly clear - and they relate to Art. 64(2) EPC's protection given by a method/process claim.
Art. 64(2) EPC: "If the subject-matter of the European patent is a process, the protection conferred by the patent shall extend to the products directly obtained by such process."
Think both D1's were OK time wise.
ReplyDeleteD2 was way to long for 2h 40 minutes. Only two players, but 5 patent applications. I also found it quite atypical since opponent had first filings and (to my knowledge) there was no reason for opposing EP-P2.
Wasted quite some time in figuring out the strategy for the exam...
It took me also a lot of time to see, confirm and double-check that there was no ground of opposition for EP-P2... there really is none.
DeletePart 1:
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1: Art.19 amendment with IB, anyone? Language of publication, anyone? Correction of obvious mistakes by filing with ISA, anyone?
Question 2: Further processing, anyone? NOT re-establishment of rights, anyone?
Part 2:
Question 3: I don't remember.
Question 4: Fresh grounds anyone? Exceptionally, the EPO accepts fresh grounds, anyone?
Question 5: Morocco not a contracting state, anyone? Unitary patent protection, rule 6 (1) and (2) of "Rules relating to Unitary Patent Protection", anyone?
Part 2:
Partial priority, anyone?
Re-establishment of rights, anyone?
Opposition against EP-2 anyone?
Can I still pass with having done well the legal questions part, but not the legal opinion part, anyone?
For part 2: what are the grounds of opposition, Mr. anyone? I couldn't find any.
DeleteSee our first comments on the separate D1 and D2 blogs.
DeleteMorocco not a contracting state --> Art.133(2)
DeleteMenu bar problem score neutralization, anyone?
ReplyDeleteNeutralisation, hardly - if anything some points for inconvenience, though I would highly doubt that will be considered a disadvantage, as long as there was access to the paper and one could write.
DeleteI need CERTAINTY.
DeleteD2: a lot of effective date analysis. Head spinning still. Were we supposed to assert EP-P1 as A54(3) against novelty of a bit of range in EP-P2? Was there an enablement issue with higher range. Couldn’t see any novelty/IS issues with EP-AA+ or PCT-TM? Didn’t have time to do Q3 or 4.
ReplyDeleteEP-P1 Art 54 (3) against EP-D3?
DeleteI found D2 very tight for time compared to previous papers. The lack of abbreviations for the different subject-matters didn’t help with the timing.
ReplyDeletepart D2 too long. No time for the FTO. Copy/past does not work well
ReplyDeleteI have similar issue of Wiseflow.
ReplyDeleteWhen I tried to open the assignment with a new tap, it took quite long time around 2~4 minutes and it made me creasy. This symptom was happen in all D papers.
It took me 2 minutes or so for D1,2. but the others were faster. As it was similar in previous years, I was not that surprised - although I expected it to have been solved.
DeleteIn DI-II, I errorneously numbered the Questions as Q1, Q2 and Q3. Will it be fatal?
ReplyDeleteNo, I cannot imagine this will do any harm :) relax and have a nice evening.
DeleteHhhhh thanks, I am in a crazy mode
DeleteFormer D paper marker here. Markers look for the substance of the answers to each D1 question, and they find it very quickly after the first 2-3 papers they have marked. Except if you jumbled the text of all your answers together, it will not be a problem at all.
DeleteTiger mosquito subject matter, novel and inventive anyone?
ReplyDeleteNitrogen 2 oxide novel and inventive anyone?
Me
DeleteWhen I was doing D2, relatively early on, I also had problems with WiseFlow. Somehow I must have used a strange combination of keys, but my keyboard suddenly stopped working. Every time I pressed a key, the Windows menu would appear (as if I had pressed the Windows key). It was annoying to say the least. I was blocked by the paper and could not contact the invigilator because the keyboard was not available... I played around with the keyboard and suddenly it came to life and worked properly. After a while I got the password from the invigilator. All in all it was very annoying, nerve-wracking and I lost a lot of time...
ReplyDeleteD2 was way too long in my opinion. Didn‘t have any time at all for Q3 and Q4.
ReplyDeleteNo technical issues other than in D2 loading of the assigment in a seperate window took some time.
ReplyDeleteWith respect to D1, I found the paper managable, meaning that I would expect to have scored 50% of the marks at least. Q4 was not my strongest, too much GLs and uncodified knowledge was tested. Also from my perspective there were too much ifs/if nots involved in advising the client, meaning you actually need to write down what the OD will likely do, what not and why.
With respect to D2, not so much. It was way too long. Even if the patent-situation might not have been as complicated as in previous papers, there is still more of the less the same amount of information to diggest before you may come to this conclusion. I also do not understand why the drafters of the paper artifically increase difficulty by using these lenghty terms for disclosed subject matter and then even doubling up the text in respect to what is claimed in each application. Instead of giving me an extra bullet point, why not just give me an abbrevation I can readily re-use and which the marker will be grateful for finding in my answer. Also, top of my head, I recall we had to read 4 pages of text plus 1 page of question. In the 60-mark 2019 D2, for example, the amount of text was the same. Should it not have been cut down by an appropiate length due to the fact we will get 15 marks less (if it was only three pages, then disregard the comment...and I know that text length is not all...but still a point to consider)
Also, I found it not very candidate-friendly to make the first question regarding EP-P2 and patentabilty of the claimed subject to hinge on the rather complex evaulation to which extent if any EP-P2 enjoys priority. I though about it way too long losing time before I (as I would say now) made the wrong call. But I felt that I should give it that much thought, because with the wrong call, my answers down the road would be affected. Start with a rather simple question! Give the candidate something to tick-off and feel confident, for christ's sake!
That's a really good summary of my impressions as well. D2 was way too wordy and had various unnecessarily distracting hick-ups.
DeleteI totally agree on that!
DeleteD2 comprised almost 4,5 pages. I see it the exact way as you do. Just because there is one legal issue less but apart from that everything else stays the same cannot be enough for 1 h less time.
DeleteI was also surprised that there were no abbreviations given for the claimed subject-matter, which had kind of become good practice in the D2s over the last years.
DeleteDear humanoids, do lots of people who do not have time to finish paper D still pass?
ReplyDeleteYes, with 60% of the marks for D1 and 60% of the marks for Q.1 of D2 (assuming that is at least 25 of 45 marks), you get 33 + at least 15 = at least 48 marks, so a compensable fail with a pass well in reach.
DeletePartial priority anyone for DII?
ReplyDeletePartial priority galore/resitter
DeleteWiseflow crashed during D1 without reason (no screensaver etc), had to restart. Lost 10 minutes. Any idea what to do?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.epo.org/en/learning/professional-hub/european-qualifying-examination-eqe File a complaint today
Delete... or at the latest by 15 March 2024, 23:59 CET, as indicate on the website and on the complaint form
DeleteFor D2:
ReplyDeleteDoes partial priority not apply for an "and" claim and only for an "or" claims, and since both the species/genus was "linked" to the range it was not partial priority but just a lack of priority as a whole.
Also, maybe I messed up the year for EP-2 or today's date is not actually "today's date, but hadn't the opposition period for EP-2 passed since the publication for grant was 02.08.2022?
Partial priority applies where the narrower priority disclosure is "encompassed" by the broader claim in the subsequent application (as far as the priority is the first application for that narrower disclosure,). See, e.g., G 1/15, reason 5.2.1. So, any species - genus type.
Delete[006] said "EP-P2 was granted without any amendment and the mention of the grant was published on 2 August 2023", not 2022. Same in German and French version.
Further processing, NOT re-establishment! Anyone?
ReplyDeletePeriods (R.70a, 70, 39) themselves were excluded from RE, and FP of those periods was missed. But RE in FP periods is available.
DeleteA rough indication of D1 consisderations, topics and legal basis is now on our D1 blog: https://eqe-d.blogspot.com/2024/03/d1-2024-14-mark-question-to-start-with.html
ReplyDeleteA list of possible topics that you may have considered is now on our D2 blog: https://eqe-d.blogspot.com/2024/03/d2-2024-spiders-mosquitos-and-silk.html
We have added our (provisional) full answers to our D1 and D2 blog posts.
DeletePlease feel invited to comment, post alternative lines of reasoning, fill in any gaps, ...
The paper is now available in the EQE Compendium:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.epo.org/en/learning/professional-hub/european-qualifying-examination-eqe/compendium/paper-d
I found the time quite short for this exam as usual. It is quite frustrating when you know that you can do it but do not have enough time or make careless mistake due to stress and short time given. An extra hour for D1 and D2 would have been great. I understand that's the game ...
ReplyDelete