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Patent Position

The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued:

• Patent No. 5,562,777 for Arkenol's basic technology, "A Method of Producing Sugars Using Strong Acid Hydrolysis of Cellulosic and Hemicellulosic Materials" on October 8, 1996;
• Patent No. 5,580,389 for "Method of Separating Acids and Sugars Resulting from Strong Acid Hydrolysis as Amended" on December 3, 1996;
• Patent No. 5,597,714 for "Strong Acid Hydrolysis of Cellulosic and Hemicellulosic Materials" on January 28, 1997;
• Patent No. 5,620,877 for "A Method of Fermenting Sugars Resulting From Strong Acid Hydrolysis As Amended" on April 15, 1997;
• Patent No. 5,726,046 for "A Method of Producing Sugars Using Strong Acid Hydrolysis As Amended" on March 10, 1998; and,
• Patent No. 5,782,982 for "A Method of Removing Silica or Silicates from Solids Resulting from the Strong Acid Hydrolysis of Cellulosic and Hemicellulosic Materials" on July 21, 1998.
• Patent No. 5,820,687 for "Method for Separating Acids and Sugars Using Ion Resin Separation" on Oct. 13, 1998.
• Patent No. 6,054,611 for "Method for the Productin of Levulinic Acid and Its Derivatives" on April 25, 2000.

International patents issued:

• Canada Letters Patent No. 2,128,430 for Arkenol's basic technology, "A Method of Producing Sugars Using Strong Acid Hydrolysis of Cellulosic and Hemicellulosic Materials" on December 16, 2003;
• New Zealand Letters Patent No. 263,730 for Arkenol's basic technology, "A Method of Producing Sugars Using Strong Acid Hydrolysis of Cellulosic and Hemicellulosic Materials" on March 25, 1997;
• Australian Letters Patent No. 38,628 for Arkenol's basic technology, "A Method of Producing Sugars Using Strong Acid Hydrolysis of Cellulosic and Hemicellulosic Materials" on August 21, 1997;
• South Africa Letters Patent No. 96/4734 for Arkenol's basic technology, "A Method of Producing Sugars Using Strong Acid Hydrolysis of Cellulosic and Hemicellulosic Materials" on March 26, 1997;

Additionally, patents are pending for process improvements for:

• "A Method for the Production of Levulinic Acid and Its Derivatives" (Serial 08/747,441 filed November 8, 1996).

The basic patent covers Arkenol's technology for converting cellulosic materials into sugars using an acid hydrolysis process. It also includes purifying and separating the mixed acid and sugar streams in a chromatographic method into separate component streams, acid for reuse in the initial process, and sugar for fermentation or thermo-chemical conversion into final products.

Follow on sugar chemistry research continues and Arkenol has filed or is filing patents on downstream process steps using its hydrolysate. Improvements learned through production tests at the Arkenol Pilot Plant have led to additional proprietary knowledge on control algorithms and resin formulation for more specificity in ion exchange separation and to the collection of application documents for several other unit operations. Arkenol has its basic patent application filed and pending in numerous countries outside of the United States.

Licensed Technology

Arkenol has exclusive rights to use FT-IR technology for on-line stream analysis and control as covered in Patent Number 5,262,961: "Method of Monitoring and Controlling a Chemical Process," issued to Applied Power Concepts on November 16, 1993.

Arkenol also has exclusive rights to use a method for long term storage of bagasse without its degradation covered in Patent Number 4,613,339: "An Improved Energy Plantation Pelletized Fuel Based on Sorghum," issued to Dr. William Farone on September 23, 1986.

Trade Secrets

Arkenol has developed various control strategies, computer programs, nutrient recipes and various strains of yeast and bacteria that comprise its trade secrets. These trade secrets further protect the exclusivity of the Arkenol technology.