Schiff Nutrition International, has confirmed that Schiff, Aker BioMarine Antarctic USA, and Aker BioMarine ASA have filed a motion to stay the lawsuit for patent infringement filed in Delaware by Neptune.
The lawsuit alleges Schiff MegaRed infringes US Patent No 8,030,348, which was issued to Neptune in October 2011. Schiff believes Neptune’s claims lack merit and the patent Neptune asserts is invalid.
To date, the Delaware Court has not made any rulings regarding Neptune’s claims against Schiff and Aker, and the mere fact that Neptune has filed claims against Schiff and Aker does not in any way affect Schiff’s ability to continue to sell and promote its top-quality krill oil.
The motion to stay filing follows the US Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) grant of Aker’s request for re-examination of the ‘348 patent. Aker’s request for re-examination cited multiple prior art references that were not included in Neptune’s patent application.
In granting Aker’s re-examination request, the USPTO has issued an initial rejection of all 21 claims of the ‘348 patent. Based on publicly available statistics released by the USPTO, from November 1999 to September 2011, re-examination requests average three years to decide and, of the re-examination certificates issued, claims were canceled or changed in 89% of the cases.
Schiff and Aker entered into a supply agreement in July 2011 pursuant to which Aker agreed to supply Schiff with its Marine Stewardship Council certified krill oil. Aker has agreed to indemnify Schiff under the supply agreement for losses arising out of the patent litigation. Schiff and Aker have agreed to collaborate on future innovations under the supply agreement.
Source: Schiff Nutrition
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