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 […] Maier & Maier PLLC has been ranked as a top law firm for Patent Law in the latest U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings. We are thankful for this recognition and our wonderful clients and esteemed colleagues who made this success possible. An additional filing fee for any nonprovisional utility patent application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111, including continuing applications, that are not filed in DOCX format was set to take effect on January 1, 2022. However, on November 22, 2021, the USPTO issued a final rule delaying the effective date of the new fee until January […] The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has further expanded their Track One prioritized examination program by increasing the annual limit on accepted requests. Previously, the USPTO only accepted 12,000 Track One requests per fiscal year, but this announcement increases the limit to 15,000 requests per year. Track One expedites the patent prosecution process […] Judge Alan Albright assumed the bench in September of 2018 and has quickly made the Western District of Texas a premier venue for patent litigation. 24% of all patent cases filed so far in 2021 were filed in the WDTX, up from just 3% of patent cases filed in 2018. This significant increase in filings […] Maier & Maier partner Stephen Kunin is once again recognized as a top lawyer in the Intellectual Property field. The 2022 Best Lawyers in D.C. publication has recognized Mr. Kunin for his work in Intellectual Property. Maier & Maier prides itself on the ability to provide top tier service and relevant expertise to each of […] The Maier & Maier litigation team successfully defended its client’s right to pursue trademark registration for its prominent jewelry brand, SAUER. In April 2021, Opposer Nextten Stauer filed an opposition proceeding challenging two of Amsterdam Sauer Joalheiros Ltda.’s (“Amsterdam Sauer”) trademark applications for the marks SAUER and SAUER ESTD 1941. The opposition proceeding challenged the […]