WARF sues French company over patent violation

Madison, Wis. - The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and its Norway-based licensee, Natural ASA, accused a nutritional supplement manufacturer today with willful and deliberate patent infringement in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.

The French company, Arkopharma, and its Massachusetts-based subsidiary, Health From The Sun, invited the suit when they continued to sell certain products despite WARF's offers to resolve the patent violation, said Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of WARF, in a statement.

The products Arkopharma was manufacturing were dietary supplements referred to as, "Thermo Power or Oolong Tea and Sun Power" and were sold in Madison stores, said WARF government and public relations manager Andy Cohn. Representatives from Health From the Sun could not be reached for comment.

The patent protects a licensing agreement allowing Natural to use an invention from University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers Mark Cook and Michael Pariza related to reducing body fat in animals using conjugated linoliec acid (CLA).

"No one should expect to benefit commercially from the outstanding results obtained by WARF and Natural ASA without purchasing CLA from one of our licensees," said Jostein Dalland, managing director of Natural. "This is the nature of patent law." The lawsuit filed in the Western District of Wisconsin asks Judge Barbara Crabb to declare that Arkopharma is infringing, and has induced others to infringe, on WARF's patents. The plaintiffs also ask the court to enjoin Arkopharma from selling the product and to pay unspecified damages for the infringement.

Legal counsel representing WARF were also unavailable for comment prior to press time.

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