An Appeal Board of the European Patent Office has set aside an October 2000 Opposition Division decision which had revoked one of Martek's European docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) patents. The claims presented to the Appeal Board by Martek were held to be novel. This Martek patent is directed to DHA-enriched oil products and a process for producing DHA-enriched oil. The patented DHA-enriched oil is useful in a number of applications, including infant formulas, nutritional supplements and food ingredients.
Consistent with Martek's request, the patent will now be returned to the Opposition Division for a determination regarding inventive step. During this process, the patent will remain in full force and effect.
The European Patent Office decision is consistent with decisions of other patent offices around the world. This Martek patent is one of over 350 granted patents and pending applications in Martek's expanding patent portfolio.