The USPTO registration examination is a year-round, computer-delivered test of 100 multiple-choice questions, of which 90 are scored and 63 correct answers are required to pass. It is open book: the MPEP Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024 and three supplements appear on your test screen, with external links redacted. Start by confirming your degree or coursework fits one of the four eligibility categories, apply through the OED portal with the correct fees, then build your study plan around navigating the official source materials quickly under time pressure.
What the registration examination is
It is the test the USPTO uses to decide who may be registered to practice in patent matters before the Office, offered year-round by computer at Prometric test centers.
The Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) administers the examination for individuals seeking registration or recognition to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office in patent cases. There is no paper version anymore; you take it on a computer at a Prometric test center on a date and time you choose, and you receive an unofficial result on screen at the end.
Passing is one step toward registration. After you pass, OED mails official results along with instructions for completing the registration process. Under the eligibility routes described below, passing with a Category A, B, or C qualification supports registration for all patent matters, while a Category D qualification supports design patent matters only.
- Registration rests on the legal, scientific, and technical qualifications the USPTO requires under 37 CFR § 11.7.
- Design-only applicants qualify separately under Category D and are limited to design patent matters.
Sources: Registration examination | USPTO — Office of Enrollment and Discipline registration examination page, last updated Jun 1, 2026; USPTO General Requirements Bulletin issued August 2026 — Eligibility, application, examination and test administration sections
Format, scoring, and results
Expect 100 multiple-choice questions in two three-hour sessions, with 90 scored questions and a passing threshold of 63 correct scored answers.
The exam has 100 multiple-choice questions, each with five answer choices, split into a three-hour morning session of 50 questions and a three-hour afternoon session of 50 questions. Ten questions are unscored beta questions distributed throughout the test; they are not identified and do not count toward your result.
To pass, you must answer 70 percent of the scored questions correctly — 63 of 90, not 63 of 100. If you take both sessions in a single day, you see an unofficial result on your test computer at the end; official results arrive by mail soon afterward.
At the test site you must sign a non-disclosure agreement as a condition of sitting. Disclosing exam content is treated as relevant to whether you have demonstrated good moral character for registration, so never discuss or post question content after your test day.
Every scored question has appeared on earlier exam forms and has been psychometrically analyzed. Beta questions that later prove valid are added to future forms, which is how the question bank evolves.
Sources: Registration examination | USPTO — Office of Enrollment and Discipline registration examination page, last updated Jun 1, 2026; USPTO General Requirements Bulletin issued August 2026 — Eligibility, application, examination and test administration sections
The official source materials, including the MPEP
Questions come from the MPEP Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024 and three named supplements, and those reference materials appear on your exam computer with external links removed.
OED publishes the exact list: the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024, published November 2024; the Consolidated Trial Practice Guide from November 2019; the final rules on Changes to Representation of Others Before the USPTO; and the implementation notice for the Global and IP5 Patent Prosecution Highway pilot programs. Questions are based on these materials and other published USPTO policy and procedure, and the published materials control over the MPEP in a conflict.
An update takes effect on September 23, 2026. No examination is administered from September 17 through September 22, 2026, so plan test dates around that blackout. Both the current and the updated versions cover the same listed source materials, including the MPEP Revision 01.2024 — do not assume a newer MPEP revision applies before OED announces one.
Check the source-material list regularly, even during your own testing window, because the materials may be revised from time to time. The MPEP and other sources are freely available on the USPTO website for study, and their external links work while you study. During the actual exam, all external links are redacted, so expect plain text where a hyperlink used to be.
- The exam covers the source materials as they read on your test date, so verify the list close to when you sit.
- Announcements about updated reference materials appear in the Official Gazette and on the USPTO practitioners page.
Sources: Registration examination | USPTO — Office of Enrollment and Discipline registration examination page, last updated Jun 1, 2026; Registration examination source materials (USPTO PDF) — OED source materials notice, last updated 05/29/2026; USPTO General Requirements Bulletin issued August 2026 — Eligibility, application, examination and test administration sections
Eligibility: the four categories
You must show scientific and technical training through a recognized technical degree (Category A), equivalent coursework or other evidence (Category B), a passed FE exam (Category C), or a recognized design degree for design-only practice (Category D).
Category A is the direct route: an official transcript showing a bachelor's, master's, or PhD in one of the listed technical subjects from an accredited U.S. college or university, or an equivalent foreign degree. The list spans most engineering fields, sciences such as biology, chemistry, and physics, and computer science — but an acceptable computer science degree must be a bachelor of science from an accredited institution.
If your degree is in another subject, such as psychology or pharmacy, Category B requires showing equivalent training through defined coursework options. Option 1, for example, requires 24 semester hours of physics courses taken for physics majors. Only courses with a grade of C- or better count, and you must submit official transcripts plus official course descriptions matching the year each course was taken. Diplomas, transcript copies, and registrar letters are not accepted as degree evidence.
Category C fits applicants relying on practical engineering or scientific experience: passing the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam administered by a State Board of Engineering Examiners, together with an official transcript showing a bachelor's degree. Neither the USPTO nor any other federal agency runs the FE exam.
Category D is design-only. A degree in a recognized design subject — architecture, industrial design, graphic design, fine or studio arts, and related fields — leads to registration in design patent matters only. Foreign and noncitizen applicants face additional rules: the exam is not administered to aliens who do not reside in the United States, and resident noncitizens generally pursue limited recognition under 37 CFR § 11.9(b) with immigration documentation showing authorization to work or train in this capacity.
Quarter-system transcripts need conversion before you compare them to Category B options: multiply quarter hours or trimester credit hours by two-thirds to get semester hours.
Practice exercise
Priya earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from an accredited U.S. university and wants to qualify under Category B, Option 1, which requires 24 semester hours of physics courses taken for physics majors. Her transcript uses the quarter system and shows 36 quarter hours of physics courses for physics majors, all with grades of B or better. Has she met the Option 1 coursework requirement, and what must she submit with her application?
Show answer
Yes. Converting to semester hours: 36 × 2/3 = 24 semester hours, which exactly meets Option 1. She must submit official transcripts bearing the university stamp or seal — for both the degree and the physics courses — plus official course descriptions from the catalog years in which she took each course, and she should highlight the courses she is relying on.
The General Requirements Bulletin instructs applicants converting quarter or trimester credits to multiply by two-thirds, so 36 quarter hours equal 24 semester hours. Option 1 accepts only physics courses for physics majors, which the facts state she took, and only grades of C- or better count, which her B grades satisfy. Category B documentation rules require official transcripts and year-matched official course descriptions; a diploma, a diploma copy, or an unofficial transcript would not establish the degree or the coursework.
- Category A and D equivalence can be shown where the transcript demonstrates the degree matches the listed subject.
- Foreign-language documents need certified English translations.
- Courses such as mathematics, patent law courses, and science courses for nonscience majors are typically not accepted toward Category B.
| Category | What qualifies you | Result if you pass |
|---|---|---|
| A | Bachelor's, master's, or PhD in a listed technical subject (official transcript) | Registration for all patent matters |
| B | Degree in another subject plus defined semester-hour options (e.g., 24 semester hours of physics for physics majors), grades C- or better | Registration for all patent matters |
| C | Bachelor's degree plus official passing results from the FE exam | Registration for all patent matters |
| D | Degree in a recognized design subject (e.g., architecture, industrial design) | Registration for design patent matters only |
Applying and paying the fees
Apply online through the OED Exam Applicant Portal or by mail with Form PTO-158, official transcripts, and the required fees.
The fee structure has three distinct parts. A non-refundable $118 application fee is required by 37 CFR § 1.21(a)(1)(i). The registration examination fee for test administration is $226. Separately, some applicants are instead subject to the $1,806 fee required under 37 CFR § 1.21(a)(10), of which $1,688 is refundable only if you are not admitted — check the bulletin to see whether that route applies to you.
Application and examination fees may be paid together. Prometric separately collects its own examination administration fee when you schedule your testing appointment, not at the test center, and you cannot sit for the exam until that fee is paid.
A complete application matters. OED states that incomplete applications cause problems for review, facsimile transmissions of applications are not accepted, and all business should be transacted in writing. Alongside the form and fees, submit official transcripts, course descriptions if you rely on Category B, and any other required documentation, including immigration documents for noncitizen applicants.
- Online portal: fill out forms, upload documentation, and pay fees through the Exam Applicant Portal.
- Paper route: Mail Stop OED, USPTO, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450.
Scheduling and exam-day mechanics
After OED approves you, an admission letter directs you to schedule with Prometric inside a set window — currently extended to 180 days — and you must arrive 30 minutes early with no personal items.
Your admission letter specifies the time period during which you must schedule and take the exam. OED has temporarily extended this scheduling window to 180 days for applicants until further notice; OED will post notice before returning to the regular window. If the window is about to lapse, you can request an extension for a $124 fee before the current period expires, and extensions can be granted an unlimited number of times.
Schedule online at Prometric's website, by phone at 800-479-6369, or through a local test center. OED urges prompt scheduling because popular sites fill, and a late or missed appointment subjects you to Prometric's rescheduling and fee policies. Arrive 30 minutes before your appointment.
You may not bring documents, materials, machines, or electronic devices into the testing area. Prometric provides a storage locker for those items. The reference materials — the MPEP and the other listed sources — are available on the computer delivering the questions, with external links redacted.
- The name on your admission letter must match line 1b of your application; check it on arrival of the letter.
- Extensions can be requested an unlimited number of times, but each request needs the $124 fee and must arrive before the current window expires.
Sources: Registration examination | USPTO — Office of Enrollment and Discipline registration examination page, last updated Jun 1, 2026; USPTO General Requirements Bulletin issued August 2026 — Eligibility, application, examination and test administration sections
Preparing: practicing MPEP navigation
Treat study time as search practice. Because the exam is open book but time-boxed, your advantage comes from knowing the MPEP's structure and reading rules in context, not from memorizing every section.
Do the pacing arithmetic once: six hours for 100 questions averages about 3.6 minutes per question, and part of each question goes to finding and reading the governing rule. That is why navigation practice matters more than transcription practice.
Build your routine around the actual documents you will see on test day. Learn the MPEP's chapter structure so you can route a question to the right chapter before searching, practice with the same PDFs you will study from, and get comfortable with the index and search workflow. On exam day the software shows redactions where external links used to be, so do not build habits that depend on clicking through to outside pages.
When you review practice questions — original ones, never recalled live content — open the MPEP and confirm the governing rule plus the conditions around it. A rule stated without its exceptions and definitions is how correct-sounding wrong answers get made.
One official boundary to know: OED will not counsel applicants on the patent statutes, rules, policy, or procedure, and cannot recommend courses. Preparation choices, including any commercial review course, are yours to evaluate; nothing in the exam materials endorses a particular provider.
An optional study routine: choose a source document, map its chapter layout, then answer practice questions with that document available under a timer. Adjust the time and topic choice to your weaknesses; this is study advice, not an OED requirement.
- Study with live external links; expect them redacted on the exam.
- Recheck the official source-material list before your test date in case the materials are revised.
Sources: Registration examination source materials (USPTO PDF) — OED source materials notice, last updated 05/29/2026; USPTO General Requirements Bulletin issued August 2026 — Eligibility, application, examination and test administration sections; Registration examination | USPTO — Office of Enrollment and Discipline registration examination page, last updated Jun 1, 2026
If you do not pass
You can schedule a review session of the scored questions you missed, and you may reapply — but beta questions are never shown, and the review must happen within 60 days of your result notice.
Failed applicants can schedule a review session through Prometric within 60 days of the mailing date of the notice of results. You review only the scored questions you answered incorrectly, which means the ten unscored beta questions are never available for review.
Complete scheduling instructions come with the result letters. If you retake the exam, you file a new application, and the application fee is non-refundable in any case, so use your review session to diagnose weaknesses before reapplying.
Sources: Registration examination | USPTO — Office of Enrollment and Discipline registration examination page, last updated Jun 1, 2026; USPTO General Requirements Bulletin issued August 2026 — Eligibility, application, examination and test administration sections
Final checklist before you apply
Confirm your eligibility category, gather the required documents, check the fees that apply to your route, and plan around the September 2026 update and blackout dates.
- Verify your degree or coursework fits Category A, B, C, or D, and order official transcripts with the university seal now — Category B also needs year-matched course descriptions.
- Budget the $118 application fee plus the $226 examination fee (or the $1,806 route if 37 CFR § 1.21(a)(10) applies to you), and expect a separate Prometric administration fee at scheduling.
- Apply through the Exam Applicant Portal or by mail to Mail Stop OED; keep your application complete to avoid review delays.
- After your admission letter arrives, schedule with Prometric promptly within the window — currently 180 days — and avoid the September 17–22, 2026 blackout.
- Study the MPEP Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024 and the three named supplements; recheck the source list during your window, since materials may be revised.
- Plan your route home from the exam: a same-day, two-session sitting gives you an unofficial result on screen immediately.
Sources: Registration examination | USPTO — Office of Enrollment and Discipline registration examination page, last updated Jun 1, 2026; Registration examination source materials (USPTO PDF) — OED source materials notice, last updated 05/29/2026; USPTO General Requirements Bulletin issued August 2026 — Eligibility, application, examination and test administration sections
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