Arista Cereal Technologies Pty Ltd (ARISTA) announces that the lawsuit initiated by Arcadia Biosciences Inc. against ARISTA in the District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) has been dismissed. Arcadia had filed suit on September 4, 2018, alleging that three of ARISTA's patents should have included Arcadia inventors and that ARISTA breached certain confidentiality obligations. ARISTA pointed to numerous factual and legal omissions in Arcadia's allegations and sought dismissal of Arcadia's lawsuit. On January 11th, Judge Jed S. Rakoff dismissed the entirety of Arcadia's lawsuit.
The SDNY lawsuit was the second action by Arcadia against ARISTA relating to high amylose wheat. On August 14, 2018, in an earlier action, the Patent Trials and Appeals Board of the USPTO issued a judgement against Arcadia on priority of invention in an interference proceeding. This meant that ARISTA has essentially been declared the inventor of the involved technology, not Arcadia, and that the challenged patent rights rightfully belong to ARISTA.
Cereal grains are an important source of fiber as well as other nutrients for consumers worldwide. ARISTA's technology further improves wheat nutrition through increasing the level of resistant starch in the grain. Resistant starch, a form of dietary fiber, improves gut and metabolic health, and has also been shown to decrease glycemic response to foods, a factor important in the prevention and management of Type 2 diabetes. The ARISTA wheat, delivering high levels of resistant starch in milled flour, has been produced through conventional plant breeding and selection processes and is non-GMO Project Verified.
"As a source of Native Resistant Starch, our High Fiber Wheat addresses rising concerns about food and health," says Eric Vaschalde, CEO of Arista Cereal Technologies. "Our Wheat Resistant Starch is a fermentable fiber, and an important fuel source for our microbiome, which helps to maintain gut health. Potential benefits for health are numerous, and easy to deliver through all foods based on wheat, which is very promising."
Arcadia does not have a license to ARISTA's patent portfolio, which includes patent rights in the US and most major countries worldwide
The ARISTA patents in North America have been licensed exclusively to Bay State Milling Company (BSM), Quincy, MA. BSM has been actively collaborating with growers and building the supply chain and infrastructure for managing this identity preserved wheat. They have significant quantities of milled flour available under the HealthSense(TM) label for commercial sale.
"We believe that high amylose wheat, in the form of HealthSense(TM) flour, will be instrumental in improving public health by enabling metabolic benefits that address common ailments through foods consumers enjoy," says CEO of Bay State Milling, Pete Levangie. "We fully support ARISTA in their efforts to defend their intellectual property of this innovative ingredient, and we are committed to ensuring our collective success in the North American marketplace."
About Arista Cereal Technologies Pty Ltd
ARISTA is a privately held, joint venture company formed by Limagrain, a fifty-year-old farmer-founded and directed, world player in wheat seeds, and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia's national research agency for nearly 100 years, a globally recognized organization focused on using science to make a positive difference in the world. The companies began collaborating in fundamental research in wheat starch more than 20 years ago and joined their efforts and expertise in 2006 to develop and commercialize wheat with direct consumer health benefits.
About Bay State Milling Company
Bay State Milling Company has proudly provided exceptional flour and plant-based ingredients since 1899. Its core purpose is to provide food ingredients to promote the growth of healthful and affordable food choices for the consumer. In pursuit of this purpose, the Company has a strategic intent to lead the development of next-generation grain-based foods in North America by connecting food with agriculture to provide the leading array of plant based ingredients.
SOURCE: Arista Cereal Technologies Pty Ltd
