On May 4th, 2023, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) hosted its annual Design Day event. As part of the event, speakers outlined design patent practice as well as discussed key developments in design patent law from 2022. Karen Young, Director of Technology Center 2900 at the USPTO provided an update on the […] On June 22, 2022, Disintermediation Services, Inc. (“Disintermediation”) filed a Complaint alleging that Continually Ltd. (“Continually”) infringed U.S. Patent Nos. 11,240,183, 11,336,597, and 11,349,787, which purportedly cover two-way real time communication systems that allow asymmetric participation in conversations across multiple electronic platforms. The case was filed in the Western District of Texas, Waco Division, and […] Maier & Maier continues to enjoy consistent and favorable results in its litigation matters. On November 1, 2022, Aperture Net LLC filed a lawsuit accusing Electric Mirror, Inc. of infringing U.S. Patent No. 6,711,204, which purportedly covers connections between base stations and WiFi access points. The suit was filed in the Western District of Washington […] The USPTO recently announced through the publishing of a new Federal Register final rule (88 Fed. Reg. 12560) that effective Tuesday, April 18, 2023 all newly issued patents will be issued electronically. Electronically issued patents will bear the digital signature of the USPTO director, and the corresponding patent cover sheet will be nearly identical to […] 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 […] 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 […] 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 […] Maier & Maier is pleased to announce that distinguished partner, Stephen Kunin, will be speaking in an upcoming Strafford live video webinar, “Overcoming Sect. 101 Rejections: USPTO Guidance, Recent Decisions to Meet Sect. 101 Patent Eligibility Requirements” scheduled for Tuesday, April 27, 1:00pm-2:30pm EDT. We encourage anyone interested in Section 101 issues at the USPTO […]