USPTO General Requirements Bulletin (2026): Patent Bar Guide
Last verified: September 2026
The USPTO General Requirements Bulletin is the primary source for admission to the registration examination and for the scientific and technical qualifications required to practice before the Office in patent matters.
Eligibility Categories A–D
As of September 2026, the current framework uses Categories A, B, and C for registration in all patent matters and Category D for design patent matters only.
- Category A: recognized scientific and technical degrees. Biomedical Science was added to Category A in August 2026.
- Category B: applicants with degrees in other subjects who establish the required technical training through the coursework and other evidence described in the bulletin.
- Category C: the FE-test route.
- Category D: the separate design-patent-practitioner pathway.
Current Application Costs
The standard current application costs are $118 for the USPTO application fee, $226 for the USPTO registration examination fee, and $221 for Prometric exam administration. The USPTO also currently charges a $226 registration or limited-recognition grant fee after passing and completing the post-exam requirements.
Application Review and Scheduling
The USPTO says complete applications typically take four weeks or less to review. As of September 2026, OED is temporarily setting the examination scheduling window to 180 days until further notice; normal guidance is generally about 90 days.
Passing Standard
The current Patent Bar passing standard is 63 correct answers out of the 90 scored questions on the 100-question examination.
Patent Bar Requirements: Detailed Guides
- Category A: qualifying degrees
- Category B: coursework requirements
- Category C: the FE exam route
- Category D: design patent practice only
- How to apply for the Patent Bar
- Patent Bar exam format
- Patent Bar exam fees
- Patent Bar exam scheduling
- Patent Bar retake rules
- After you pass the Patent Bar
Use this page as a high-level guide, but use the current USPTO bulletin and OED pages as the source of truth whenever a Wysebridge summary and the official source differ.