For those of you eagerly waiting another bite at the Israel Patent Attorney exams, here are the dates:
Vivas (that’s orals for those without the benefit of a classic education) – Tuesday 8th December and Wednesday 9th December 2009, and candidates should keep both dates free.
Written Exams – For those wanting to do an exam in Chemistry or biotechnology, the date will be 30th November 2009 and for computing, mechanics and electronics for exams will be on 1 December 2009.
There are two exams on each day. At 9am there is an Ordinance 130 exam and at 2PM there is an Ordinance 129 paper.
Those of you that do not know what ordinance 129 and 130 are, clearly need more revision!
Actually, 130 is the patent drafting paper and 129 is the language test that most of us try to wriggle out of. One needs Hebrew and a second language, typically English but not necessarily, however I think classic but no-longer spoken languages like Aramaic and Latin are no good.
To register, one has to fill out and post the form found here: http://www.justice.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/7434C4E6-69AD-4089-93EE-CD5BD48B6548/16444/exams.doc
There is a fee of course – currently 163 NIS.
The exams should be run every 4 months, but since you must wait 6 months before resitting if you fail, they actually run twice a year with the dates recessing a little like Ramadan.
It is not clear if one can register for both written papers as presumably the paper won’t be marked over-night. I am sure that I am not the only practitioner who drafts in all fields.
Since this blog article is in English, my female fans (I should be so lucky) won’t be offended by me writing in the masculine, since English is easily written in neutral.
The original Notice is in the masculine, but don’t worry. The Notice was drafted in the masculine for ease of drafting only, Women are allowed to sit the exams – of course.
Of course? Can women sit the exams to become Rabbis or Qadis? Actually, there is a high representation of women amongst patent attorneys, though few women inventors – but that’s a different subject.
I am pleased that the Notice wasn’t written in his/her style. The disclaimer at the beginning that women can sit the exams is certainly more eloquent, if a little obvious.
One thing I’ve noticed, is that whereas attorneyesses and advocatesses double barrel their names on matrimony, patent attorneys seem to happily adopt their husband’s names without seeing it as a stigma. Are they unfamiliar with the ridiculous court decision that every woman has a name? Are women patent attorneys, being scientists/engineers, more grown up than the lawyers? I digress.
For anyone who is still reading, here is an anecdote from a friend who supervises English language matriculation exams (bagrut) in Israel.
Comprehension answer: “In 1066 William the Conqueror pickled England”
