PER period

The QPIP title does not give a license to practice, i.e. it will not be required in order to work as a patent information professional, but it indicates a competence level and ensures (future) employers that the QPIP is an all-round professional, being able to do any kind of patent related search and analysis.

A QPIP registration renewal fee will be due at the beginning of each calendar year to cover that calendar year. ISBQPIP is a not-for-profit organization, that will publish a financial report every year. As a not-for-profit organisation, the renewal fee will be set to ensure that all running costs are covered without a significant surplus accruing. Currently, the annual renewal fee is set on EURO 100 including Dutch tax (which applies to personal services according to Dutch tax law). For candidates who successfully pass the exam, the examination fee includes the QPIP registration fee for the calendar year of the exam.

See Privacy Notice (link at the bottom of each page in the black area)

In order to maintain your registration as QPIP in the QPIPs register you need to 1) pay the annual fee, 2) register at least the required minimum of 10 Continued Professional Development points in your personal QPIP dashboard.

The ISBQPIP has filed a trademark for both the QPIP logo and the term ‘QPIP’.  All QPIPs may use the term QPIP or Qualified Patent Information Professional in combination with their name (e.g. in their email signature, on LinkedIn etc.). Otherwise the term may only be used after written permission from the ISBQPIP has been obtained. The logo may only be used after written permission from the ISBQPIP has been obtained, but permission will not be withheld for use of the logo in combination with the name of the QPIP (e.g. in their email signature).

The major tasks of the committees are summarized below (for complete descriptions see the Articles and Rules):

Accreditation Committee: reviews applications for accreditation of training/course programs

Examination Committee: prepares the exam papers and reviews/marks the papers of the candidates (sub-groups may be formed to focus on specific aspects/technological areas of the exams)

Qualifications and Continued Professional Development Committee: reviews applications to enrol in the certification examination and reviews applications for Prior Experience Recognition. In addition, the committee will monitor developments in the profession to ensure that CPD requirements remain current. The committee will also assess activities to determine whether CPD points can be assigned, and if so, how many.

Regulatory and Disciplinary Committee: reviews complaints/appeals against acts/decisions of or within the ISBQPIP. In addition, the committee reviews complaints concerning alleged misconduct by a QPIP as well as assessing a QPIP's compliance or exemptions concerning the CPD requirements via a random audit.

The inaugural committee for each of these areas may need to develop procedures, forms and protocols in line with the Articles and Rules.

It is difficult to estimate how much work will be necessary to fulfil the different tasks of these committees. The amount of work will likely alternate between periods of more and less work at certain times throughout the calendar year. It is generally estimated that a committee member may spend anywhere from 3 hours to 10 hours per month or more depending on the circumstances.

It is likely that most of the tasks can be performed outside of business hours with perhaps the exception of any online communications (teleconferences or email correspondence) with other members of the committee that may need to be scheduled during business hours due to the availability of the committee members.

(i) You must meet minimum work experience requirements:

At the time of applying for PER, you must have at least ten (10) years of work experience with at least 60% of that time spent on searching patent information or a combination of searching and mentoring or a combination of searching and outsourcing or a combination of searching and overseeing search work of others according to the definitions in Rule 4.2 in each and every year of the 10 year period preceding the date of application.

AND

(ii) You must meet minimum technical qualifications such as a university degree or work experience in a scientific or technical field as defined in Rule 18.3e.

AND

(iii) At the time of applying for PER, you must have completed a minimum of five (5) Continued Professional Development (CPD) points as defined in Rule 23.7 which must be accumulated in the twelve (12) months prior to applying for PER status.

AND

(iv) Pay the application fee of EURO 175 which is non-refundable. Acceptable forms of payment will include bank transfer or credit card (Mastercard or VISA).

AND

(v) As a PER applicant, you must confirm that you will be willing to serve on an ISBQPIP committee if requested by the ISBQPIP or to participate in developing accredited training or courses related to the core competencies of the certification examination as defined in Rule 18.3b, or attending and evaluating public training courses. For further details, see Rule 18.3a.

AND

(vi) As a PER applicant, you must confirm that you will either teach or otherwise exchange knowledge by teaching or developing a course or attending one or more courses directed to each of the three core competencies of the certification examination as defined in Rule 18.3b at some point during the three years from the date you are registered as a QPIP.

AND

(vii) As a PER applicant, you must confirm that you will abide by the Code of Conduct.

Due to capacity issues, the PER window will be opened in stages for different regions of the world. An opportunity will become available in China, Japan, South Korea or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in due course. If you reside in any of these countries, have at least 10 years of experience as patent information professional and are willing to help with PER assessments in your country, please contact us at info@qpip.org.

Yes, you can if you meet the requirements of Rule 18.3. There is no requirement for PER regarding the type of search projects that should have been conducted in the past ten years, so it is also accepted if you have done only patentability searches.

Unfortunately the line has to be drawn somewhere. The requirement is 10 years of patent search-related work experience during which a minimum of 60% of the time was spent on searching patent information, mentoring, outsourcing or overseeing search work of others IN EACH AND EVERY YEAR OF THE 10 YEAR PERIOD preceding the date of application. Irrespective of whether the PER applicant has worked full-time or part-time, the applicant needs to be able to show that (s)he has 10 years of patent search-related work experience. Patent search-related work includes searching patent information, mentoring, outsourcing or overseeing the search work of others. Please refer to Rule 4.2 for further details about these patent search-related activities and Rule 4.3 for details about the different type of patent-related search projects.

If you would still like to be considered for PER, please include details about any special experiences or skills with which you can contribute to the activities of the ISBQPIP committees that should be taken into consideration when reviewing your application. This information may assist in deciding your eligibility for PER status.

The PER application fee is EURO 175 which is non-refundable. Acceptable forms of payment will include bank transfer or credit card (Mastercard or VISA). The PER application fee covers the QPIP registration fee for the first year.