The Solazyme/Roquette matter: identical claim examined differently in distinct ISRs

The Solazyme/Roquette matter is an example of a "joint venture" gone bad.  One co-venturer filed a patent application, only in its name, for work nominally done jointly. 

The matter also informs us of how patent examination can be somewhat subjective. Because of the "bad act" of the co-venturer, we have the somewhat unusual situation in which an identical claim is examined separately in two distinct "international search reports," with somewhat differing results. 

**The earlier case filed by the joint venture [ Solazyme Roquette Nutritionals, LLC  ] is related to
WO/2014/062882  (  PCT/US2013/065369; priority 17 Oct 2012 ; published  24 April 2014 ) has first claim

Microalgal flour granules, characterized in that they have at least one of the following characteristics:
- a particle size distribution, of from 2 to 400 pm,
- flow grades, determined according to a test A,
o 0.5 to 60% by weight for the oversize at 2000 m, o 0.5 to 60% by weight for the oversize at 1400 pm, o 0.5 to 95% by weight for the oversize at 800 pm,
- a degree of wettability, expressed according to a test B, by the height of the product settled in a 600 mL, 125 mm tall beaker, at a value of 0.2 to 4.0 cm, preferably 1.0 to 3.0 cm.

The international search report mailed 21 Feb. 2014 finds two "Y" references for claim 1, which are
US 2011/0305740 (related to PCT/FR2010/050328 [ WO2010100369 ] to Roquette) and WO2012095121( PCT/EP2011/002298 to Cargill)

** The later case filed only in the name of Roquette is related to WO2014064231A1. (    PCT/EP2013/072343; priority 26 Oct 2012; published 1 May 2014) has first claim

--
Microalgal flour granules, characterized in that they have at least of the following characteristics:
- a multimodal particle size distribution, measured on a particle size analyser, of from 2 to 400 μηι,
flow grades, determined according to a test A,
o 0.5 to 60% by weight for the oversize at 2000 μηι,
o 0.5 to 60% by weight for the oversize at 1400 μηι,
o 0.5 to 95% by weight for the oversize at 800 μηι,
a degree of wettability, expressed according to a test B, by the height of the product settled in a beaker, at a value of 0.2 to 4.0 cm, preferably 1.0 to 3.0 cm.

--

The international search report mailed 6 Feb. 2014 finds "X" references for claim 1 including
WO 2010/100368 and WO 2010/100369 (both to Roquette) and  EP 0 622 027 (to Kawasaki Steel).

** In passing, although the arbitration decision found that Roquette was a copycat of Solazyme, both international search reports appear to suggest that claim 1 is not patentable over prior work of Roquette!


link to earlier IPBiz post on the Solazyme/Roquette matter:
 http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-roquettesolazyme-matter-joint.html

link to arbitration decision:
http://www.ascension-publishing.com/Solazyme-Roquette-022615-Exhibit%20A.pdf