Norwegian biotechnology company Rimfrost AS has hailed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) finding that a patent related to krill oil production, owned by Aker Biomarine, is unpatentable.
The decisions taken by PTAB on 13 January this year are in response to two inter-party review petitions filed by Rimfrost. These rulings, from the three-judge panel, found all 61 claims of U.S. 9,375,453 issued to Aker unpatentable.
“This is another victory in a long row of patent cases for Rimfrost," Rimfrost CEO and Principal Owner Stig Remøy said. "We hope this will settle any confusion created by Aker Biomarine in the U.S. market. No legal process in the U.S.A. concerning its patents has gone in Aker Biomarine’s favor. That means the uncertainty which Aker Biomarine has sought to create around our products and ability to deliver is repudiated."
With its head office in Fosnavag, in the Sunnmøre region of western Norway, Rimfrost is one of the world’s largest producers of krill products. The United States represents one of its most important markets.
“We’ve experienced massive sales growth for our krill products since 2017,” Remøy said. “Our quality is particularly high, and we can deliver even in a market with rapidly rising demand.”
In November last year, Rimfrost placed an order for a new NOK 1 billion (USD 111.1 million, EUR 100.5 million) krill-fishing vessel. The contract for the 120-meter-long vessel was awarded to the Ølensvåg-based shipbuilding group Westcon, and will be the largest fishing vessel constructed by the firm.
Designed by Kongsberg Maritime on the basis of green technology, the vessel is intended to set new levels of climate-friendliness, sustainability, and resource utilization for krill fishing in Antarctica. It is estimated that the maritime cluster in Sunnmøre and other Norwegian enterprises stand to secure almost NOK 500 million (USD 55.5 million, EUR 50.3 million) in orders from the project.
Due to be ready for use in 2022, this will be the first vessel in the world where health food and food supplements are produced at sea immediately after catching, Remøy said. “We’ve faced many challenges and obstacles on the way to where we are today. So we’re particularly pleased that we’re now putting in place a vessel which we believe will revolutionize krill fishing in Antarctica.”
Rimfrost also has an option for the construction of a second ship.
