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EFP ENTERS NANOTECH AGREEMENT
EFP ENTERS NANOTECH AGREEMENT Emergency Filtration Products Inc (EFP) has entered into an agreement with NanoScale Materials Inc to explore opportunities to utilize and expand its technologies. NanoScale is an accepted nanotech provider under the National Nanotechnology Initiative approved by President Bush. The initiative has been allotted US$714 million to research potential nanotechnology benefits in an array of applications ranging from biochemical defence to medical imaging. EFP intends to capitalize on nanotechnologies by coating its filtration products with a substance that eradicates any biological contaminant – either viral or bacterial – contacting the filter media. The company believes this addition to its 0.027 micron filtration efficiencies will greatly enhance its products’ desirability in government, military, medical and civilian markets.
HYFLUX BECOMES BIOTECH STAKEHOLDER Hyflux Ltd’s wholly owned subsidiary Hyflux Engineering Pte Ltd is to take a 19.5% equity interest in a new Chinese biotechnology venture known as Sinolac (Singapore) Pte Ltd. Sinolac was incorporated on 16 October 2002 to own and operate a biotechnology manufacturing facility in China. The plant, which is set for completion in the first quarter of 2004, will have an initial production capacity of 10 000 metric tonnes of organic acid per year. Hyflux’s investment is $S2.9 million or US$1.7 million. Under the agreement, Hyflux will be contracted to supply the process plant, including the membrane filtration
Filtration Industry Analyst
system worth S$27.4 million (US$15.4 million). Sinolac’s wholly owned subsidiary in China will also be licensing the group’s proprietary membrane technology for use in the facility at a fee of S$3.5 million (US$2 million) for a five-year period, during which time Hyflux will also operate and maintain the plant. Olivia Lum, Hyflux’s CEO and president, said the deal was strategic in several ways. It would enable the group to jumpstart the commercialization of its technology; garner a supply deal that could serve as a springboard to supplying customers in other sectors of the biotech industry; and provide a recurring source of income. The investment will be funded from the proceeds of Hyflux’s private shares placement in June 2002. The other participants in the venture are Gimmill Industrial (Pte) Ltd and 2G Capital Pte Ltd, with 45% and 35.5% stakes, respectively.
PURADYN ANNOUNCES CO-BRANDING ALLIANCE WITH FRAM puraDYN Filter Technologies Inc and FRAM Filters have agreed a strategic relationship whereby end users will be offered an integrated oil filtration system comprising FRAM full-flow filtration and the puraDYN by-pass oil filtration system. Honeywell Consumer Products Group, which manufactures FRAM Filters, will offer the three most popular puraDYN by-pass oil filtration systems along with the related replacement cartridges and service parts through its extensive North American distribution network. “The puraDYN/FRAM relationship is the first of its kind and offers a complete fullflow–by-pass filtration solution
for vehicle equipment owners, just in time for the increased filtration requirements created by the new emission standards which go into effect in October 2002,” said Richard Ford, puraDYN’s CEO.
NEW RULING IN PALL–CUNO PATENT SUIT A US District Court has judged that Cuno Inc’s PolyPro XL and Life Assure filters infringe two Pall Corp patents that cover the company’s ULTIPLEAT filter. Pall now intends to ask that the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York orders Cuno to stop making and selling the infringing items. Cuno, meanwhile, continues to believe that Pall’s patents are invalid and unenforceable by Pall, and says it will appeal the ruling. The ULTIPLEAT product line is widely used in a broad spectrum of industries and applications. Cuno says that the products at the centre of the litigation are earlier generations of the PolyPro XL and Life Assure filters, combined sales of which were less than 1% of Cuno’s total sales in fiscal 2001. Alternative pleat configurations have been adopted for these products, which are unencumbered by the Pall patents. Pall initially brought suit against Cuno in December 1997. In September 2000, Judge Johanna Seybert heard evidence as to the meaning of certain terms in the patent claims; a year later she rejected Cuno’s proposed claim interpretation and ruled that the disputed claim terms should be given their ordinary and accustomed meaning. Pall filed a motion for summary judgement of infringement of 57 claims in the two patents in October 2001, and the Court reached its decision that Cuno’s filters infringe all of the asserted claims of the patents in October 2002.
IN BRIEF • Zenon Environmental Inc has recently won a clutch of awards. The first, Canada’s Exporter of the Year, was made by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. A second award for Outstanding Business Achievement was awarded by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce – Zenon also received this distinction in 1998. Finally, Zenon became the first recipient of the Canadian Innovation Award for Sustainable Development at the Canadian Manufacturers and exporters’ annual conference. • Scheibler Filters Ltd’s name has changed to Larox UK Ltd following its acquisition by Larox in September 2002 (see Filtration Industry Analyst, July and October 2002). All the company’s activities are based at the Retford office in Nottinghamshire, UK. • Aqua Care Systems Inc has been delisted from the Nasdaq SmallCap Stock Market and now trades on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol AQCR. The company was warned in July 2002 that it did not comply with either the minimum US$2 million net tangible assets or the minimum $2.5 million stockholders’ equity requirements. • Activated-carbon manufacturer Carbon Resources LLC of Oceanside, California has opened an office in Pennsylvania to improve East Coast market coverage in the USA. Frank Trenga, national sales manager, will manage the office and have responsibility for marketing and sales of activated carbon products including bamboobase powders and pellets, and low-density granular coal-based carbons.
13
NEWS/IN BRIEF
November 2002
HYFLUX BECOMES BIOTECH STAKEHOLDER Hyflux Ltd’s wholly owned subsidiary Hyflux Engineering Pte Ltd is to take a 19.5% equity interest in a new Chinese biotechnology venture known as Sinolac (Singapore) Pte Ltd. Sinolac was incorporated on 16 October 2002 to own and operate a biotechnology manufacturing facility in China. The plant, which is set for completion in the first quarter of 2004, will have an initial production capacity of 10 000 metric tonnes of organic acid per year. Hyflux’s investment is $S2.9 million or US$1.7 million. Under the agreement, Hyflux will be contracted to supply the process plant, including the membrane filtration
Filtration Industry Analyst
system worth S$27.4 million (US$15.4 million). Sinolac’s wholly owned subsidiary in China will also be licensing the group’s proprietary membrane technology for use in the facility at a fee of S$3.5 million (US$2 million) for a five-year period, during which time Hyflux will also operate and maintain the plant. Olivia Lum, Hyflux’s CEO and president, said the deal was strategic in several ways. It would enable the group to jumpstart the commercialization of its technology; garner a supply deal that could serve as a springboard to supplying customers in other sectors of the biotech industry; and provide a recurring source of income. The investment will be funded from the proceeds of Hyflux’s private shares placement in June 2002. The other participants in the venture are Gimmill Industrial (Pte) Ltd and 2G Capital Pte Ltd, with 45% and 35.5% stakes, respectively.
PURADYN ANNOUNCES CO-BRANDING ALLIANCE WITH FRAM puraDYN Filter Technologies Inc and FRAM Filters have agreed a strategic relationship whereby end users will be offered an integrated oil filtration system comprising FRAM full-flow filtration and the puraDYN by-pass oil filtration system. Honeywell Consumer Products Group, which manufactures FRAM Filters, will offer the three most popular puraDYN by-pass oil filtration systems along with the related replacement cartridges and service parts through its extensive North American distribution network. “The puraDYN/FRAM relationship is the first of its kind and offers a complete fullflow–by-pass filtration solution
for vehicle equipment owners, just in time for the increased filtration requirements created by the new emission standards which go into effect in October 2002,” said Richard Ford, puraDYN’s CEO.
NEW RULING IN PALL–CUNO PATENT SUIT A US District Court has judged that Cuno Inc’s PolyPro XL and Life Assure filters infringe two Pall Corp patents that cover the company’s ULTIPLEAT filter. Pall now intends to ask that the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York orders Cuno to stop making and selling the infringing items. Cuno, meanwhile, continues to believe that Pall’s patents are invalid and unenforceable by Pall, and says it will appeal the ruling. The ULTIPLEAT product line is widely used in a broad spectrum of industries and applications. Cuno says that the products at the centre of the litigation are earlier generations of the PolyPro XL and Life Assure filters, combined sales of which were less than 1% of Cuno’s total sales in fiscal 2001. Alternative pleat configurations have been adopted for these products, which are unencumbered by the Pall patents. Pall initially brought suit against Cuno in December 1997. In September 2000, Judge Johanna Seybert heard evidence as to the meaning of certain terms in the patent claims; a year later she rejected Cuno’s proposed claim interpretation and ruled that the disputed claim terms should be given their ordinary and accustomed meaning. Pall filed a motion for summary judgement of infringement of 57 claims in the two patents in October 2001, and the Court reached its decision that Cuno’s filters infringe all of the asserted claims of the patents in October 2002.
IN BRIEF • Zenon Environmental Inc has recently won a clutch of awards. The first, Canada’s Exporter of the Year, was made by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. A second award for Outstanding Business Achievement was awarded by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce – Zenon also received this distinction in 1998. Finally, Zenon became the first recipient of the Canadian Innovation Award for Sustainable Development at the Canadian Manufacturers and exporters’ annual conference. • Scheibler Filters Ltd’s name has changed to Larox UK Ltd following its acquisition by Larox in September 2002 (see Filtration Industry Analyst, July and October 2002). All the company’s activities are based at the Retford office in Nottinghamshire, UK. • Aqua Care Systems Inc has been delisted from the Nasdaq SmallCap Stock Market and now trades on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol AQCR. The company was warned in July 2002 that it did not comply with either the minimum US$2 million net tangible assets or the minimum $2.5 million stockholders’ equity requirements. • Activated-carbon manufacturer Carbon Resources LLC of Oceanside, California has opened an office in Pennsylvania to improve East Coast market coverage in the USA. Frank Trenga, national sales manager, will manage the office and have responsibility for marketing and sales of activated carbon products including bamboobase powders and pellets, and low-density granular coal-based carbons.
13
NEWS/IN BRIEF
November 2002