After the download at Walnut Canyon, Athelia realizes that becoming Guardian Queen Examiner requires mastery of fifteen distinct domains—each corresponding to a chapter of the MPEP, each testing a different aspect of patent law.
Patentability (MPEP 2100) - 22% of challenges: The foundation. §§ 101, 102, 103—subject matter eligibility, novelty, obviousness. This is where most applicants fail, and where Athelia must be strongest. The Graham factors, the KSR rationales, the Alice/Mayo framework—these are her primary weapons.
Examination (MPEP 700) - 18% of challenges: The art of conducting examination. Office actions, responses, interviews, restriction requirements. This is the dialogue between examiner and applicant, the strategic back-and-forth that defines patent prosecution.
Parts & Content (MPEP 600) - 15% of challenges: The technical requirements. Specification, claims, drawings, amendments. Understanding what makes an application complete, what can be amended, what constitutes new matter.
Application Filing (MPEP 200) - 12% of challenges: The beginning. Provisional vs. non-provisional, filing dates, requirements, fees. The three paths Athelia discovered carved in stone at Walnut Canyon.
Appeal (MPEP 1200) - 10% of challenges: The escalation path. Notice, brief, answer, PTAB, Federal Circuit. When applicants refuse to accept rejection and demand higher review.
The remaining domains—Restriction (8%), Rules of Practice (8%), Correction (7%), PCT (6%), AIA Trials (5%), Design Patents (4%), General Provisions (3%), Protest (2%), Inter Partes Reex (1%), Plant Patents (1%)—fill out the complete knowledge base.
Each topic card below represents a training ground. Start with Patentability (the highest-weighted domain). Master it first, then expand outward. By exam day, you must command all fifteen domains with equal confidence.
This is Athelia's path to mastery. This is your path to passing the Patent Bar.
USPTO organization, duties of applicants and assignees, secrecy orders, national security, foreign filing licenses
Types of applications (provisional, non-provisional, PCT), filing dates, requirements for filing, application data sheets, fees
Specification, claims, drawings, oath/declaration, amendments, amendments after final, after-final pilot program
Office actions, responses, interviews, restriction practice, classification, petitions, publication, allowance, issue
Restriction requirements, election of species, divisional applications, independent/distinct inventions, traversal
Notice of appeal, appeal brief, examiner's answer, reply brief, oral hearing, PTAB decisions, Federal Circuit appeals
Certificates of correction, reissue applications, reexamination (ex parte and inter partes), broadening reissue
Protest and public use proceedings, third-party submissions, pre-issuance submissions under AIA
§ 101 subject matter eligibility, § 102 novelty, § 103 obviousness, KSR analysis, Graham factors, obviousness-type double patenting
Inter partes reexamination for pre-AIA patents, third-party participation, estoppel, appeals
Inter partes review (IPR), post-grant review (PGR), covered business method review (CBM), institution, claims, estoppel
Design patent applications, drawings, claim format, ornamentality, similarity, term, continuation practice
Plant patent applications, asexually reproduced plants, claim format, distinctness, specification requirements
Patent Cooperation Treaty, international applications, national stage entry, priority, international search, preliminary examination
USPTO rules of practice, attorney conduct, disciplinary proceedings, extensions of time, fees, signatures