Persons who pass the registration exam and become admitted as patent agents before admission to a state bar are allowed to change registration to patent attorney upon supplying the USPTO with proof of good standing in a state or territorial bar.
[2] The examination is intended to measure the applicant's familiarity with USPTO procedures, ethics rules, federal statutes, and regulations.
The test is divided into morning and afternoon sections, each comprising fifty questions completed within a three-hour time limit.
The USPTO has moved to a computer-based examination which can be taken on any business day at any of several hundred Prometric locations around the country.
[6] The USPTO requires that all those applying for registration (agents or attorneys) meet three requirements: (1) good moral character, (2) legal, scientific and technical qualifications necessary to render valuable service, and (3) competence to advise and assist patent applicants in the presentation and prosecution of patent applications.
The second requirement is typically met with a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree in a recognized technical subject; the USPTO calls this "Category A" eligibility.
[13] Degrees in the philosophical arts (such as pure mathematics) or the social sciences[10] (such as sociology) are not sufficient by themselves to meet the technical training requirement.
Such registration is granted for the limited purpose of representing patent applicants from the individual's country of residence before the USPTO.