Healthy Cat Food Purina®

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http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/help...http://www.wysong.net/wysong-vs-purin...Midland, Michigan Nestec S.A. (better known as Nestle), parent company of Purina, a pet food manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri, and Wysong Corporation, a health education and nutritional development company in Midland, Michigan, have filed suits against one another in the Eastern District Federal Court in Missouri.The suits are related to a technology invented by Dr. Wysong in the early 1980s to enrobe pet and human foods with probiotics. These are health giving organisms, such as found in yogurt, that can boost the immune system, fight pathogens, produce nutrients and growth fa! ctors, and help digestion.Although Wysong did not seek a patent, it has used the technology in both animal and human foods since the early 1980s. Due in large part to Wysongs educational efforts and product development, probiotics have become a part of the collective health consciousness of the public and food industry. Of late, many natural pet food companies have begun using Dr. Wysongs technology as well.Nestle/Purina obtained a patent granted in 1999 for the same technology. To this date, however, Purina has not incorporated probiotics in its own products—although its patent describes in detail the many health benefits of probiotics. Instead, it is attempting to prevent Wysong and other companies from using probiotics unless a licensing fee (tax) is paid to Purina.A patent is not valid if the invention (prior art) exists in the public domain prior to the patent. The evidence of Wysongs prior art for over fifteen years before the 1999 Nestle patent was granted is, acco! rding to Wysong, incontrovertible and ample. In fact, in 2004 ! just a p ortion of Wysongs prior art evidence swayed a European patent review board to deny Nestle/Purina a like European patent. The decision was upheld on Appeal. Wysong argues that the patent should have never been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, is invalid and unenforceable, and that any attempt by Purina to use the threat of litigation costs to force licensing fees is unethical and illegal. Wysong publicized and used the technology in products distributed nationally for more than 15 years prior to the patent. Therefore, Wysong claims that the patent holders copied Wysong art and did not fulfill their duty to reveal this to the patent office when filing. Moreover, since Purina claims Wysong is now infringing, Wysong says it must have been infringing for the fifteen years prior to the patent, thus denying the patent's very validity.More is at stake than a giant company out-muscling a small one. If Purina succeeds, they will, in effect, be imposing a tax o! n all companies who have followed Wysongs lead and now use probiotics. This tax will significantly increase the cost to manufacturers, distributors, and stores, as well as to consumers wanting to use healthy pet foods. Over time, this could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars in increased costs for the natural pet food industry and their customers. For updates and a lively forum, visit www.wysong.net.Wysong Corporation989.631.0009989.631.9280Wysong@Wysong.netwww.Wysong.net