Martek's European DHA Patent Revoked

Martek's European DHA Patent Revoked

COLUMBIA, Md.--Martek Biosciences (www.martekbio.com),based here, had its European patent on DHA revoked by the European PatentOffice; the company has filed an appeal to fight the decision and ensure itretains patent force during the appeals process. The appeals process is expectedto take around two years.

According to the company, Martek's European DHA patent contains broader claimlanguage than its patent in the United States. In addition to the DHA patents,Martek holds U.S. and European patents on arachidonic acid (ARA) technology andsome use patents on mixtures of DHA and ARA.

The company is publicly traded; it noted that while the patent appeal is notexpected to have a short-term impact on sales, if the appeal is lost, it couldresult in more competition and possible decreased sales in Europe.