Neptune Welcomes the Opportunity to Reconfirm the Validity of Its '348 Patent

Neptune Technologies and Bioressources Inc. (Nasdaq: NEPT) announces that on December 19, 2011, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted a request by Aker BioMarine for reexamination of Neptune's U.S. Patent No. 8,030,348. In a press release regarding the grant of the reexamination, Aker has again made statements that are designed to mislead the public about the reexamination process and about the original patent office examination that led to the issuance of the '348 patent on October 4, 2011.

Specifically, contrary to Aker's press release, the mere grant of the request to reexamine Neptune's '348 patent does not mean that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has confirmed that the patent should not have been granted. In fact, while the USPTO grants approximately 95% of all requests for reexamination, in a majority of cases, the USPTO confirms the validity of the claims in the patent or grants amended claims. In addition, Aker's assertion that the '348 patent was "only granted because the USPTO was not provided with relevant prior art during its prosecution" is false.

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