Jennewein takes on Nestlé over baby formula patents
German biotech Jennewein has accused Nestlé Nutrition of infringing patents covering a process of purifying human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) to make its infant formula.
Jennewein filed its suit with the regional court in Mannheim, Germany last week, in which it accused Nestlé of infringing European patents EP 2,896,628 and EP 3,131,912.
Both patents cover a “process for efficient purification of neutral HMOs from microbial fermentation”. HMOs are complex sugar molecules that are only present in breast milk.
According to a release from the German biotech, Nestlé offers its infant formula Beba Supreme (which contains two HMOs) for sale in Germany.
Jennewein also claimed that Nestlé is selling its infant formula outside of Germany, so the biotech company is investigating potential infringement of its corresponding foreign patents.
Late last year, a former joint venture between Nestlé and French cosmetics brand L’Oreal managed to avoid claims that it misappropriated trade secrets related to a training platform for teaching medical professionals how to perform facial injections.
In December, the US District Court for the District of Delaware allowed Nestlé Skin Health (which was sold off in last year) to shake off the claims, after finding that it does not have personal jurisdiction over the company.
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