Stakeholder Offerings and Resources (SOaR)

Access recently updated IP basics trainings

Do you want to learn about recent examination practice and procedure guidance? You can attend an interactive Stakeholder Offerings and Resources (SOaR) course featuring recent training delivered to experienced United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) examiners. USPTO trainers lead SOaR course attendees through in-depth discussions on selected topics that are based on recent updates to the current examination practices and procedures.

Joint Voices
SOaR’s “Joint Voices” training events are free and open to the public and highlights training opportunities and intellectual property educational programming resources that each USPTO regional office provides. While the events are open to all registrants, a portion of each collaborative session will cover the unique offerings of one of the USPTO’s regional offices.

About SOaR

SOaR delivers training to stakeholders on a variety of examination practice and procedure topics. As part of the USPTO's modernization efforts, the SOaR program replaces the virtual instructor-led training (vILT) program by expanding its publicly-offered virtual trainings to professional, non-professional, and pro se applicants. The SOaR program offers:

Interactive online courses
In-depth topic discussions
Legal and continuing legal education (CLE) trainings
Expanded trainings for non-professional and pro se applicants

All courses are free to attend, and CLE credit may be available in Virginia. For more information on upcoming SOaR training events, visit the SOaR events page.

SOaR is administered by the Office of Stakeholder Experience (OPSE).

For more information contact SOaR@uspto.gov.

Additional training programs and resources

Stakeholder Training on Examination Practice and Procedure

Are you or your client interested in in-person training that focuses on examination practice and procedure? Stakeholder Training on Examination Practice and Procedure (STEPP) is designed to provide external stakeholders with a better understanding of how, and why, an examiner makes decisions while examining a patent application. The STEPP program provides unique day-in-the-life experiences to those attending training. Two course formats are available: Agent/Attorney and Inventor 3-Day Courses.

To learn more, visit the Stakeholder Training on Examination Practice and Procedure (STEPP) page.

USPTO events offering CLE credits

The USPTO regularly organizes or participates in continuing legal education (CLE) credit offerings across the country. Offerings cover a variety of topics. To learn more, visit the USPTO CLE events page.

Examiner training and material

Looking for additional information on examination practice and procedure? Publicly available material used to train USPTO patent examiners is available on our Examiner Training Materials page and the Examination Guidance and Training Materials page.

Patent Examiner Technical Training Program

Are you or your client interested in providing technical training to patent examiners? The Patent Examiner Technical Training Program (PETTP) offers technologists, scientists, engineers, and other experts from industry and academia, an opportunity to voluntarily provide technical training and expertise to patent examiners either in-person or virtually from their own location.

Presentations can be delivered in-person at our headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, or at one of our USPTO regional offices in Detroit, Dallas, Denver, and San Jose.

To learn more, visit the PETTP page.

Site Experience Education (SEE) Program

Are you or your client interested in hosting patent examiners at your office or facility? The Site Experience Education (SEE) Program provides commercial, industrial, and academic institutions—within the continental U.S.— the opportunity to voluntarily host patent examiner technical site visits. The USPTO funds all SEE travel costs for patent examiner visits to host organizations.

To learn more, visit the SEE program page.