ALEXANDRIA, VA—The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted Aker BioMarine's request for reexamination of a patent held by Neptune Technologies & Bioressources (# 8,030,348), agreeing to look at all 21 claims included in the patent. Aker filed the request, including multiple references, in response to lawsuits brought by Neptune against Aker and other companies. The patent addresses the composition of a krill extract, including phospholipid, fatty acid, metallic and flavonoid content.
"[Aker BioMarine's] request for inter partes reexamination establishes a reasonable likelihood that [Aker BioMarine] will prevail with respect to claims 1-21 of the United States Patent Number 8,030,348," USPTO wrote, in its decision. According to Aker, USPTO also noted the originally granted patent claims were for fresh krill meat, a product that was obviously not invented by Neptune.
"We are very confident with regard to our freedom to operate from Neptune's patents worldwide, and this decision from the USPTO confirms what we already knew, namely that the '348 patent was only granted because the USPTO was not provided with relevant prior art during its prosecution," said Matts Johansen, executive VP of marketing and sales for Aker. "Neptune should now withdraw its frivolous lawsuits, stop sending intimidating letters to distributors and marketing companies, and rather focus on competing fairly in the marketplace." He further noted USPTO's publically available statistics indicate in 89 percent of cases where reexamination is granted the claims are either changed (45 percent) or cancelled completely (44 percent). "We are aware that Neptune's recent lawsuits have created some uncertainty in the marketplace, and encourage interested parties to contact us with remaining questions or doubts in this regard."
