Kemin Industries Approves U.S. Court of Appeals Decision Upholding Lutein Patents

26/09/06 Kemin said today the company is pleased with today's decision by the United States Federal Circuit Court of Appeals upholding a lower court's verdict that the company's patents on purified lutein are valid and enforceable. The appeals court also upheld a claim that Kemin's processing patent had been infringed. The court also remanded another process claim to the district court for further proceedings.

In September 2004, a jury verdict in U.S. District Court in Des Moines had found Kemin's patents (patent '714 and patent '564) for its FloraGLO brand of purified lutein valid and enforceable. Pigmentos Vegetales Del Centro S.A. De C.V. (PIVEG), the defendant in the case, was also found to have infringed on patent '564. PIVEG appealed the jury findings to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

"Throughout protracted litigation our lutein patents have been found valid and enforceable by a jury verdict, by a district court judge's post-trial orders, and now by the federal appeals court. We believe this is an affirmation of the integrity and validity of Kemin's intellectual property for lutein," said Rodney Ausich, president of Kemin Health.

"This decision helps assure our customers the lutein products they've invested in continue to have the patent-protected quality and reliability that is so important in the nutritional supplement market," said Ausich.