A US District Court has issued a permanent injunction prohibiting a company called High Performance Living Corporation from selling nutritional supplements containing yeast beta 1,3 glucan in violation of patents owned by Biopolymer Engineering.
The court found that some of High Performance Living Corporation's products infringed upon one or more claims of both US Patent 5,576,015 and US Patent 5,702,719. These patents cover substantially purified beta 1,3 glucan extracts obtained from yeast cell walls, particularly finely ground, and include nutritional and dermatological applications.
"We are pleased with the court's decision to uphold our beta glucan patents," said Richard G. Mueller, president and chief executive officer of Biopolymer Engineering. "We have a strong intellectual property portfolio relating to beta glucan, which we intend to vigorously protect."
The patents enforced against High Performance Living Corporation are part of a portfolio of beta glucan patents that Biopolymer Engineering acquired from the original author and inventor, Byron Donzis. In addition, Biopolymer Engineering owns beta glucan patents developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Alpha-Beta Technology. In total, Biopolymer Engineering has more than 200 US and international patents covering the composition, manufacture and application of soluble and insoluble beta 1,3 glucan in pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, cosmetics and pet foods.
"For years, it has been unclear which patent portfolio covers which application and some companies have taken advantage of this situation to manufacture or sell beta glucan," said Mueller. "We now can state with certainty that Biopolymer Engineering has exclusive rights to beta 1,3 glucan as a nutritional supplement. This court ruling and our subsequent acquisitions of additional beta glucan patents will enable us to aggressively pursue patent infringers in the marketplace today."
Beta glucan is a natural complex carbohydrate or biopolymer whose efficacy in stimulating the immune system to destroy foreign invaders has been demonstrated in numerous scientific studies. Beta glucan stimulates the macrophages, a type of white blood cell that identifies and destroys foreigner intruders and rallies the other defenders. Biopolymer Engineering markets two beta glucan product lines under the Imucell WGP and Life Source Basics brands.