More than a year after Sabinsa Corporation successfully concluded its case against Olive Lifesciences with an award of more than US$2.23 million in damages and fees to Sabinsa for infringing on the Curcumin C3 Complex patent, the court case continues to be recognised as an exemplary case in the legal community and press.
A recent article from the online legal publication Above the Law recognises Sabinsa's triumph in defending its intellectual property and cautions future patent infringement defendants against going rogue and neglecting to follow court instructions. The article states that Sabinsa’s case against Olive "should serve as a cautionary tale for patent litigation defendants who are clearly unprepared to mount a full defense of the case brought against them." The article can be found here - https://abovethelaw.com/2018/06/an-exceptional-example-of-how-not-to-run-a-patent-defense/?rf=1
On 30 July, 2014, Sabinsa filed suit against Olive for willful infringement of US Patent No. 5,861,415. The '415 Patent protects compositions, methods of use, and methods of extraction of Sabinsa’s Curcumin C3 Complex ingredient in the US
"The outcome of the case and the Above the Law article should serve notice to would-be imitators that Sabinsa will continue to pursue all available legal remedies to protect its intellectual property rights," said Sabinsa founder Dr Muhammed Majeed. "As a pioneer in the nutritional supplement industry, Sabinsa’s team has researched and developed many innovative products that others would like to imitate. The Olive decision and our other successful legal challenges to patent infringers should serve as a deterrent.”
"Sabinsa and its people have worked long and hard to develop pioneering products that are protected under the laws governing intellectual property," added James H. Hulme, Partner at Arent Fox LLP and Sabinsa’s counsel for IP matters. "People who violate Sabinsa’s intellectual property do so at their peril, as this case demonstrates," Mr. Hulme said.
Curcumin C3 Complex is a Registered Trademark and Patented product of Sabinsa Corp, and is protected under US Patent No. 5,861,415, and International Patents and Patents Pending. The name C3 Complex was chosen to represent the ingredient's three main chemical compounds: Curcumin, Demethoxycurcumin and Bisdemethoxycurcumin, collectively known as Curcuminoids. Curcumin C3 Complex is a specific mixture of Curcuminoids, making it a unique form of Curcumin quite different from generic Curcumin extracts. It has been used in more clinical studies than any other Curcumin ingredient in the world.