Basell obtains long-sought US patent on copolymer process

04 April 2002 19:45  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (CNI)--Basell announced Thursday it has been awarded a long-sought US patent for a pioneering olefin copolymers production process and the process will now be available for licensing.

Enrico Zanoli, Basell's senior vice president for intellectual property, said in a statement issued from the company's world headquarters at Hoofddorp, the Netherlands: "We are very proud of this patent. It reflects the strong technological heritage of our company."

The patent was first sought in a filing with the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) in June 1955 and covered the olefin copolymers production process developed by the late Nobel laureate Giulio Natta. A spokesman for Basell US in Wilmington, Delaware said the original corporate patent applicant for the process was Montedison.

Sanoli added: "With the issuance of this patent, Professor Natta's fundamental contributions to our industry are again given recognition."

The 47-year delay in US approval of the patent, said Basell, was due to "the comprehensive examination given to the application by the US Patent Office and several judicial and administrative appeals involving competing applications filed by other companies."

"It was frustrating at times," Zanoli said, "but we are pleased with the thoroughness of the examination process and the final outcome of it."

Lacking the US patent confirmation, Basell had been unable to license the technology, the spokeswoman said. But "licenses under the patent are now available to interested parties," Basell said in a statement.

By: Joe Kamalick
+1 713 525 2653

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