Zanoprima Lifesciences, based in the United Kingdom, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Unitrust in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, foreign media reported. In its complaint, Zanoprima Lifesciences alleged that Unitcredit violated its patent entitled "Process for making (S) -nicotine" by making a product containing synthetic nicotine and importing it into the US market.
"Over the years, Zanoprima has invested significant time, resources, intellectual capital and scientific expertise to develop Zanoprima's groundbreaking enzyme catalyzed process for the synthesis of a nicotine that is free of nitrosamines and other impurities characteristic of tobacco," said Ashok Narasimhan, CEO of Zanoprima. . "Zanoprima's legal action reflects our company's commitment to vigorously protect our intellectual property in the United States and around the world."
Zanoprima's complaint alleges that after Zanoprima's patent was published, Unitrust filed a Chinese patent application describing a process that copied a process invented by Zanoprima. However, as stated in the complaint, Unitcredit's patent application was rejected by the Chinese Patent Office in June 2021, citing Zanoprima's patent as prior art. The complaint also alleges that Unitcredit imported into the US from China and sold products containing "alleged high purity synthetic nicotine and nicotine products sold under various names, including MOTiVO synthetic S-nicotine", and that the imported products were "manufactured in accordance with each step of Zanoprima's patent claim 1".
In addition to seeking damages for infringement, Zanoprima's suit seeks preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to prevent Unitrust from continuing its infringement.