Starting in June 2008, TAPRE Course has helped many students to prepare for and pass the patent bar (aka, the patent registration examination). Courses are manufactured at and ship from Dollar Bill Copying in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Courses can be picked up in person at Dollar Bill Copying. Simply order a course at taprecourse.com and in the special-instructions box indicate you want to pick the course up in person. We will email you when your course is ready to be picked up (generally two business days).
If you have questions about TAPRE Course, contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Depending on email volume, we generally respond within two business days.
Dirk Avery took PLI's $2500 patent bar course thinking that because it was the most expensive course, it was also the best. Unfortunately, his experience did not leave him entirely satisfied. During the exam he realized his study did not match up very well with the content or method of the exam. He passed the exam on his first try, but, having been a corporate instructor to Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. and Europe, he knew he could improve the experience for fellow bar-takers.
After performing careful and extensive analysis of past exams, Dirk discovered why he had been so dissatisfied. The course he took had overemphasized areas that were rarely tested and placed too little emphasis on other areas that were very important. In addition to the emphasis issues, the other course didn't spend any time on one of the most basic and essential skills for the exam: effectively using the MPEP.
With TAPRE Course, Dirk has used his experience as a corporate instructor to reinvent patent bar preparation with an approach that decreases study time and increases preparedness. This is possible by placing emphasis where it is due and avoiding emphasis of less important topics. The course also takes an intuitive and logical approach to the subject matter, in sharp contrast to the unintuitive and confusing way other courses present the material. Finally, TAPRE Course remedies the practical shortcoming of other courses by teaching the skills needed to gain speed and accuracy for the exam.
Dirk graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School where his study focused on intellectual property, patent law and copyright. He has done patent work for premier patent law firms in Michigan and California.
Before law school, Dirk enjoyed a successful software career. He worked most recently in the software industry as a Senior Principal Consultant for Oracle Corporation. During nearly four years at Oracle, Dirk consulted both large companies and the federal government, led development efforts and employed state-of-the-art technologies from Sun, Oracle and Microsoft to solve his client's problems. He also invented a database technology for Oracle. Just prior to law school, as an Oracle consultant, he worked on a congressionally-mandated, nationwide military realignment project and received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense.
Prior to working for Oracle, Dirk was a corporate instructor for companies such as JP Morgan, IBM and Compuware, helping their staffs in the U.S. and Europe to gain proficiency in complex, new technologies. Dirk has also served as Chief Technology Officer for a startup company and developed Internet software solutions for companies including Audi, Volkswagen, and Netopia (now part of Motorola).
Dirk's technical hobbies include textual analysis, Java, PHP and MySQL.
