Important Changes to Category A for Eligibility to Take the Patent Bar Exam

[smgsmc]

Someone asked me about qualifications to sit for the patent bar exam.  I just checked the latest GRB (Oct 2021) on the OED site (https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/patent-and-trademark-practitioners/becoming-patent-practitioner).  The OED has finally [don't know when the changes first came out; last version I checked was July 2021, and the changes weren't there] come to its senses concerning Category A [if you have a degree listed in Cat A, you automatically qualify to sit for the patent bar exam (if there are no disqualifying issues on your record); otherwise, you need to jump through a lot of hoops via Cat B or Cat C]:

"A. CATEGORY A: Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree or Doctor of Philosophy Degree
in a Recognized Technical Subject. An applicant will be considered to have established to
the satisfaction of the OED Director that he or she possesses the necessary scientific and
technical training if he or she provides an official transcript showing that a Bachelor's
degree, Master's degree or Doctor of Philosophy degree was awarded in one of the
following subjects by an accredited United States college or university, or that the
equivalent to a Bachelor's degree, Master's degree, or Doctor of Philosophy degree was
awarded by a foreign university in one of the following subjects:

<<List of  Subjects>>

*Acceptable Computer Science degrees must be accredited by the Computer Science
Accreditation Commission (CSAC) of the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board
(CSAB), or by the Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC) of the Accreditation
Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), on or before the date the degree was
awarded. Computer science degrees that are accredited may be found on the Internet
(http://www.abet.org).

An applicant with a Bachelor's, Master's or Doctor of Philosophy degree in one of the
above-identified subjects must submit an official transcript from the college or university. A
diploma, copy of the diploma, or copy of the transcript will not be accepted. The official
transcript will be accepted from an applicant. The college or university transcript must be
official and include the university stamp or seal.

The Office will accept degrees where the transcript demonstrates equivalence to a
Category A degree (for example, molecular cell biology may be equivalent to biology and
materials science and engineering may be equivalent to materials science)."

<<Emphasis added>>

Note Important Changes:

*  Previously, a Bachelor's degree in a recognized technical subject was required.  If you had a graduate degree (Master's or PhD) in a recognized technical subject, but a bachelor's in some other subject, you had to qualify via Cat B or Cat C.  That was utterly inane:  e.g., if you had a BS Physics, you qualified under Cat A; but if you had a BA Math and a PhD Physics, you did not.  Now, a bachelor's, master's, or PhD in a recognized technical subject will qualify. 

*  The list has been updated to include more current fields.  E.g., "Biological Science", "Materials Science", and "Materials Engineering" are finally on the list.  The list still includes oldies but goodies such as "Ceramic Engineering", "Metallurgical Engineering", and "Mining Engineering", but at least in the US, those majors are rare, and have been largely subsumed under "Materials Science and Engineering".

*  There is now more latitude in the title of your major.  Previously, there had to be a near literal match.  E.g., "Biology" was OK, "Biological Sciences" was not.  Now, we have the important emphasis on technical content, rather than on title, of major.  This is particularly important for materials:  "materials science and engineering" (not explicitly listed in Cat A for some bizarre reason) is more common in the US than "materials science" or "materials engineering" separately (both of which are explicitly listed in Cat A), but "materials science and engineering" is accepted as equivalent to "materials science" if the transcript shows equivalent course content.