Indian Patent Agent Exam: Amendments and deteriorating standards

A Notification [No. S. O. 2296(E)] was published in the Gazette of India by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry on September 26, 2012 and hosted at the Indian Patent Office website (at here) on November 7, 2012. This notification effectuates certain amendments to Rule 110 of the Patents Rules, 2003, which relates to the qualifying criteria for the examination of patents agents. In brief, this amendment while retaining the overall pass percentage to 60% of total (of all three exams) and maintaining the sectional cut-offs for the Exam I and II, it:

(a) reduced the maximum number of marks allotted to the viva voce from 100 to 50; and

(b) also did away with the requirement of sectional cut-off of 50% in respect of viva voce.

This means, that the total marks for the exam would now be 250 (instead of 300 earlier) viz. 100 each for paper I and II and 50 for viva voce, and one will have to score a total of 150 marks (viz. 60% of total) without any relevance of the score in viva voce (whereas the person will still have to score at least 50% in Exams I and II independently).

In nutshell, the significance of the viva voce has been greatly undermined in the qualification procedure and in fact one is given an option to qualify the exam without even appearing in the viva voce. This is sort of an unfortunate but expected move from the ministry after the judgment dated February 28, 2012 of Delhi High Court in the case of Ms Anvita Singh v. Union of India and Anr. I have not been able to digest the rationale behind the judgment in that case, wherein petitioner was found aggrieved because she could not clear the sectional-cut-off for the viva voce and she claimed herself to be in practice and diligent upon the subject. Woefully, the court relied upon her performance in previous exams and her graduation also. Going by such standards for changing the course of a qualifying examination, then every year thousands of students who fail to make it due to marginal sectional cut-offs in different exams, perhaps including civil service exams, and who are among the toppers in their graduation courses, must also challenge the examination procedure as flawed because they were good enough (by general performance) to clear the cut-offs.

The inclusion of viva voce in the qualifying exam is actually the demand of the practice and is in line with what is expected from patent practitioners.  The articulation skills and verbal proficiency are indispensable for patent practitioner or perhaps any practitioner practicing any field of law.

I am a firm supporter of bringing in new and innovative changes in the qualifying procedures and criterion in order to keep pace with the changing requirement of society and industry so as to make the whole system dynamic. But in this case not only the reasons for invoking such changes are absolutely unacceptable and baseless, the changes themselves are shortsighted and compromising. Where the standards for qualification should be scaled up (with an equivalent support in training and educational programs for aspirants so that more and more students qualify tougher and tougher exams), we are viewing a downgrade in the entire system. It seems like a village school, where the students who could not clear the exams went on to the headmaster to complain that the examination system is flawed and the students should be allowed to bring in and use their help books.

Nevertheless, we can expect the exam notification very soon, followed by the exams, followed by a more skewed result list.