Xango's Patent KO'd By US Patent Office

The US Patent Office issued its final written opinion rejecting all 81 claims in XanGo's Patent No 6,730,333. This action was taken despite multiple meetings with XanGo's in-house patent expert Steven Bean, its outside patent law firm and the review of over 30 pages of memoranda and supporting affidavits filed by XanGo™ LLC, a Lehi, Utah company.

Specifically, a panel of three expert US Patent Officers, consisting of the primary examiner, a supervisor patent examiner and a special program examiner, found that every one of XanGo's 81 claims were unpatentable. The Patent Office's rationale was concise — basically that there is nothing novel or patentable in adding several fruit juices together.

The Patent Office also rejected XanGo's claim that they were the first to introduce mangosteen juice into the market, specifically concluding: "Thus, the rejection [of the entire patent] is proper. THIS ACTION IS FINAL." You may review the entirety of the rulings by going to the official government Patent Application Information Retrieval System at http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair. After this site comes up, enter Application No. 90/007,178 and click on the Image File Wrapper tab, which will reveal an index of the document history. Afterwards, click on Reexam - Final Rejection dated 4-21-2005.

In May 2004, XanGo sued New Vision® and subsequently its subsidiary, Vemma™, both Scottsdale, Arizona companies, for patent infringement. The Patent Office's final action ruling dealt a serious blow to XanGo's infringement lawsuit. BK Boreyko, President and CEO of New Vision and Vemma stated,

"You don't have to be a lawyer to understand that if they don't have a patent, then they don't have a lawsuit for infringement. From the beginning of this lawsuit, I have maintained two points. First, that XanGo's patent would be invalidated because you can't patent fruit juices. Second, even assuming their patent was enforceable, New Vision's and Vemma's mangosteen juice product does not infringe on their patent. It has always been my opinion that this lawsuit is not about patent infringement. Rather, XanGo is frustrated and embarrassed that New Vision and Vemma have produced superior mangosteen juice products into the marketplace. The independent test results don't lie.

Our product contains a full spectrum of natural xanthones derived from mangosteen and pericarp extract. In fact, it takes 14 bottles of XanGo to equal the xanthone content of one bottle of our product. It really is that simple. XanGo should never have put so much emphasis on their patent or the fact that they will be the only company selling mangosteen juice. Their credibility will be severely questioned. The bottom line is that New Vision and Vemma will always sell a mangosteen juice product and my Research and Development team will always make sure it's the best."

Comments

[Lisa]

Hi,

Are you saying that Xango has no patent now? Just today (Nov. 16, 2005) I called the US Patent and Trademark Office and they told me that the patent is still in effect. Please let me know what you mean. Thanks.

Lisa

[Kris]

The appeal hearing for this case is scheduled for 6/20/07 at 10:00 AM in Alexandria, VA
http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair click the Public PAIR link and enter the application number 90/007,178

Until that time, the patent is in valid and enforceable.

[Terri]

XanGo definitely tastes the best and is very drinkable...all others taste like crap! I will continue to drink XanGo forever!