On September 30, 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) consolidated and replaced four legacy search tools with a single Patent Public Search tool. The new tool is intended to streamline the search process for users and to incorporate new, useful features. The legacy tools that were phased out include: Public-Examiner’s Automated Search […] Maier & Maier partner, Stephen Kunin, has again been named by Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly as a Go To Lawyer for Intellectual Property Law. The selected attorneys were nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from Lawyers Weekly. The full list and individual profiles can be read here. Maier & Maier is pleased to announce that distinguished partner, Stephen Kunin, presented a Strafford webinar, “Overcoming Sect. 101 Rejections: USPTO Guidance, Recent Decisions to Meet Sect. 101 Patent Eligibility Requirements” on Tuesday, August 16. The webinar is available for purchase on the Strafford website: Here. The USPTO has dramatically increased rejections under 35 USC 101 […] As Decentralized Autonomous Organizations become an increasingly popular means to bring global networks together, the legal uncertainties create opportunities for improvement and advancement. Blockchain technology has been an ever-growing development in creating shared data networks that verify and save various transactions. The newest development, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO), takes blockchain tech a step further by […] The Federal Circuit Court enforced the plain language of a confidentiality agreement to prevent an IPR proceeding from going before the PTAB. In the summer of 2020, Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd. and Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. entered into a mutual confidentiality agreement relating to a potential partnership for a Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy therapy. As a part […] As technology and innovation have progressed, war has transformed close behind, generating new types of weapons and threats. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine demonstrates the use of this development, including everything from Molotov cocktails to nuclear warfare. Though the West has not entered the fight, it has contributed to Ukraine’s efforts by not only supplying technology […] On April 21, 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark Office hosted its annual Design Day event, featuring speakers discussing recent developments in design patent practice. The virtual event was joined by over 600 attendees. The amount of design patents filed in FY2021 increased by 17.6% over the previous year, to a total of 54,201 […] The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has announced the availability of an online First Office Action Estimator tool to provide an estimate on when to expect a first Office Action for pending U.S. patent applications. The estimator has been updated to account for the recent changes to the methodology for assigning patent applications […] The ever-growing cannabis industry has induced evolution in both the business and legal worlds. In the past few years, legal sales of cannabis for medical and recreational purposes have significantly increased and are projected to continue rising. The cannabis industry includes both plant-touching and ancillary businesses. Plant-touching businesses focus on breeding and cultivating the cannabis […] A new Deferred Subject Matter Eligibility Response (DSMER) Pilot Program will launch at the USPTO on February 1, 2022. This Pilot Program is designed to address issues currently present in examination of applications for eligibility under 35 U.S.C. 101. The Pilot Program will allow applicants to defer examination under Section 101, such that the application […]