US Patent and Trademark Office Patent Examiner Interview Questions & Reviews
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Updated May 14, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.
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Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 16 ratings 
“Easy” Interview
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Interview Experience [?] Based on 16 ratings
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| 1–10 of 16 US Patent and Trademark Office Interviews | Sort by |
Patent Examiner at US Patent and Trademark Office
Posted May 14, 2012
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Apr 2012 in Alexandria, VA (took a day)
Was scheduled to do a phone interview after selection approval through the USPTO website. Was contacted by email to complete several forms and return them to a provided address to confirm interview appointment. No choice that I was 3 hours behind (MST) from the 8am appointment (5am my time). No problem, interviewers were very polite, professional, and pleasant to deal with. The 2 supervisors contacted me right on-time and provided a variety of questions, as cited in this forum. They were very willing and able to entertain questions.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a Group/Panel Interview, a Skills Test and a Personality Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Patent Examiner at US Patent and Trademark Office
Posted Apr 26, 2012 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Mar 2012 in Alexandria, VA (took a day)
I applied on USAJobs in February and was notified that I was referred to the hiring official in early March. Two weeks later I received an email about a phone interview and had that interview on March 27. I spoke wiht two SPEs and could hear one of them typing comments as I answered their questions. The questions were mostly behavioral like everyone else has said. They asked about my experience presenting technical information, a time when I had to persuade people to agree with my point of view, how I handle criticism, etc.
Before ending the interview I was told that it would take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to hear back from HR. Based on other posts it seems as if they are nearing the final stages and will be making calls any day now (hopefully sooner rather than later). I will definitely update when I know something new (hired or not) because it seems like every one else that interviewed in this time frame is just as anxious as I am to hear back!
Update: Received phone call from HR offering me the position on 5/1/2012.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
Very little salary negotiation with government positions.
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Patent Examiner at US Patent and Trademark Office
Posted Apr 30, 2012
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Mar 2012 (took a day)
Applied mid-February, contacted about a month later for a phone interview. Had to fill out a form and a questionnaire and they linked you to an online info session with videos about the patent process. Phone interview lasted no more than 30 minutes. All questions I was asked were found in other people's reviews so definitely read those and prepare answers for them. There were two SPEs during the phone interview. Both seemed pretty nice and they explained about the day to day work. When they are done with their questions, ask about the production system and how it works b/c that's what most people tend to complain about. It seemed like the work would be a bit boring for an engineer.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Patent Examiner at US Patent and Trademark Office
Posted Apr 26, 2012 — 1 of 2 people found this helpful
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Apr 2012 in Alexandria, VA (took a day)
Three parts: (1) questions and discussion about specific technical qualifications; (2) typical HR type questions regarding working with others, deadlines, etc.; and (3) they provided information about salary, working conditions, etc.
I feel that the interview was pretty easy, but didn't feel like I got much feedback from the interviewers during the interview.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Patent Examiner at US Patent and Trademark Office
Posted Apr 23, 2012
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1.0
Very Easy Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Apr 2012 (took 1 week)
I applied online sometime in March for a Patent Examiner position. It had to be around the middle or end of March because I remember it did not take long thereafter before I was notified I was referred to the hiring official on April 3 or April 4, 2012. The following week on April 10, 2012 I got an email for a phone interview scheduled for that upcoming Friday April 13, 2012. Thanks to Glassdoor and reading other people experiences with the interview I was prepared. The questions were pretty much what everyone else posted and some from the video link they send in the email for the interview. No technical questions were asked, just behavioral. I think it went pretty well, there were two SPE but only one asked the questions while the other just listened in. The SPE stated he does not have the authority to hire or choose who to hire that they only make recommendations, forward it to HR who then decides who to hire and then they make an offer if need be. The SPE's were very pleasant and nice and as I stated it seemed to be going well (sometimes you can tell by the interviewers comments or tone of voice), but we will see if I get an offer if it really went well because that basically means nothing until you hear from HR. I will check back when or if I hear something.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Patent Examiner at US Patent and Trademark Office
Posted Apr 18, 2012 — 1 of 1 people found this helpful
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Mar 2012 in Alexandria, VA (took a day)
I applied for a PE job that closed on 2/20/12. I received notification of an interview on 3/21 and the actual interview took place over the phone on 3/28.
It lasted about 30 minutes and consisted of behavioral questions, such as "If you have 4 tasks all due tomorrow, how would you complete them?" and "Describe an instance where you had to present technical material to a non-technical audience". They told me they want a lot of detail, so I was sure to give it to them!!
As of 4/18 I have not heard either way. Here's to hoping! Good luck to everyone. Just be prepared and think clearly. The interviewers were very friendly and cordial.
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
View Comments (1)
Inappropriate?
Patent Examiner at US Patent and Trademark Office
Posted Apr 24, 2012 — 0 of 1 people found this helpful
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Mar 2012 in Alexandria, VA (took a day)
I applied in February and interviewed by telephone late March. I prepared for the interview by reading the example interview questions posted on this site and then researched them. I was very prepared and able to answer each question thoroughly from the example questions. However they did throw me a curve ball and asked about a specific question relating to my work that I couldn't answer as well as the other questions just because it caught me off guard. Overall though I think it went very well; the interviewer was very pleasant and put me at ease.
I called HR last week and by luck actually got a hold of someone. I was told they were beginning the adjudication process and would begin calling with offers soon, perhaps that day, and that the calls could last through Friday. However it doesn't look like anyone on this site from the recent interviews has received an offer so that process might have been delayed.
As of 4/24/12 I have not received an offer. If I do, I promise to update this if I can. If anyone else on this site interviewed recently, can you please update your status if you receive an offer?
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
View Comments (1)
Inappropriate?
Patent Examiner at US Patent and Trademark Office
Posted Apr 23, 2012 — 0 of 1 people found this helpful
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Mar 2012 (took a day)
I applied this position on 2/7/12 through online, then I received notification of an interview on 3/20 by email, while the actual interview took place over the phone on 3/29.
the interview were hold by two PEs, after one gave a very brief introduction the other one had started to ask questions. It lasted about 30 minutes. The questions were behavioral basically, such as "If you have 4 tasks all due tomorrow, how would you complete them?" and "How did you deal with a difficult costumer?", etc. I tried my best. Finally I was told that the HR would contact me within weeks, and there will be a 4-month training class for the position before starting to review the cases. As of 4/24 I have not heard either way. The interviewers were very friendly and cordial.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
No negotiation.
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
View Comments (2)
Inappropriate?
Patent Examiner at US Patent and Trademark Office
Posted Apr 16, 2012
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Apr 2012 in Alexandria, VA (took a day)
The phone interview was very casual. They asked some very basic behavioral questions such as "How would you complete four tasks of equal importance that are due at the same time?" I felt like the interview was more of a filter to weed out the poor communicators. The SPE's that interview are not the hiring authority, and the most they can do is send a few comments with a recommendation if you're lucky to the HR department. Overall, just be relaxed and speak clearly and concisely, and you'll be fine
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Patent Examiner at US Patent and Trademark Office
Posted Apr 4, 2012
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Mar 2012 in Alexandria, VA (took a day)
I applied for an examiner position and it took two weeks after the position closed for me to receive an email saying I was selected for an interview. The email also came with a questionaire and a link to a video (very helpful). The interview was very relaxed and took about 45 minutes. The two interviewers (both SPE's I believe) were writing down what I was saying so I wish I could have been a bit more concise in my responses. I would recommend preparing succinct written answers to these questions - and try to sound like you are not reading them when they interview you.
They told me it would take up to a month for HR to contact me with an offer (three more weeks to go!)
Questions:
What molecular biology techniques do you know?
Have you ever had to convince someone of your point of view? How did you do that?
How would you complete four tasks of equal importance at the same time?
How have you had to motivate someone to complete a goal?
What experience do you have presenting scientific or technical materials?
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
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