The first Manual was written by two employees of the Office and was published in 1920 by the Society.
"[1] The MPEP is used extensively by patent attorneys, agents, and examiners to help make sure the proper USPTO regulations are followed.
The USPTO registration examination tests knowledge of the MPEP and the underlying laws and regulations.
The MPEP has traditionally been available in paper form, but electronic versions are now used more often, particularly because an applicant only may consult the electronic versions while taking the USPTO registration examination, or the patent bar examination.
Commercial replications, that is, those that require a fee/subscription service to access the MPEP include, an iPhone App called, LawStack MPEP[4] (provides free trial), and an e-Book version provided by Thomson Reuters.