USPTO to Reexamine Another Neptune Patent

ALEXANDRIA, VAThe United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted Aker BioMarine's request for reexamination of another krill patent (#8,057,825) held by Neptune Technologies & Bioressources. The patent covers methods of reducing cholesterol, platelet adhesion, and plaque formation by the administration of krill oil The USPTO granted the request on the 12 claims submitted by Aker Biomarine, which also provided the office multiple references. This motion comes a few weeks after the companies agreed to a litigation cease-fire in the case involving other krill patents.

"[Aker BioMarine's] request for inter partes reexamination establishes a reasonable likelihood that [Aker BioMarine] will prevail with respect to claims 1-12 of the United States Patent Number 8,057,825," said the USPTO, in its decision. "

Matts Johansen, executive vice president for marketing and sales at Aker, added, "Even though the '825 patent is not linked to any lawsuit against Aker BioMarine, we nevertheless chose to ask for reexamination since the patent claims should never have been granted due to relevant prior art not disclosed to the USPTO by the patentee. The USPTO's decision shows that we were correct. At the end of the reexamination process we expect the claims to be revoked or at the very least limited so as to exclude our krill oil."