In yet another sign of the strength of the U.S. patent system, the USPTO has now issued Pat. No. 11,000,000. The patent, dated May 11, 2021, was for “Repositioning Wires and Methods for repositioning Prosthetic Heart Valve Devices Within a Heart Chamber and Related Systems, Devices, and Methods”.
When the USPTO began numbering patents in 1836, Pat. No. 1 was issued for a traction wheel for steam locomotives and it took 163 years before the USPTO issued Pat. No. 6,000,000 in 1999. Innovation has gained even more steam since then, as the USPTO has issued another 5 million patents in the past 22 years.
“Since the founding of our nation, American inventors have driven our culture and commerce with incredible ideas that have improved every function of our lives. We owe a debt of gratitude to inventors who continue to show up day after day with solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. We congratulate the inventors behind patent 11 million and all of the innovators who helped the country reach this milestone,” described Drew Hirschfield, who is currently performing the duties of USPTO Director.
The patent comes at a time when the USPTO has been among the leaders spurring innovation to help combat the ongoing pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. The USPTO has made adjustments to facilitate remote work to ensure functionality throughout the pandemic and enacted additional procedures benefiting applications covering inventions that combat virus.
Maier & Maier is proud to be a part of the ongoing innovation efforts in the U.S. and assisting our clients protecting their hard work. If you have any questions or concerns about the pilot or how it may apply to your applications, please reach out to us here.
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