"New Zealand A2 Milk Patent Invalidated"…Seoul Milk's Claim 'Cited'

Two South Korean Patents Held by New Zealand's The a2 Milk Company Invalidated

Seoul Milk Cooperative announced on the 25th that the patent invalidation trial request it filed against the South Korean patent registered by New Zealand's The a2 Milk Company, based on its own research results on A2 protein, was accepted, resulting in the patent registration being invalidated.

Regular milk contains both A1 and A2 proteins, whereas A2 milk refers to milk that contains only A2 protein. Some studies have revealed that A2 protein may be easier to digest than A1 protein. The a2 Milk Company has held patents related to these beneficial aspects of A2 milk in several countries and has led the A2 milk market.

In response, Seoul Milk emphasized that the unique characteristics of A2 protein are not technologies that can be exclusively protected by a specific company and filed a patent invalidation trial.

As a result of the trial, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued a decision on the 19th invalidating all claims of two South Korean patents held by The a2 Milk Company. The board stated that the patents lacked technical differentiation from existing research, lacked inventiveness, and, above all, the digestibility of A2 protein is already a generally known characteristic, so it cannot be recognized as patentable technology.

A Seoul Milk official said, "With this decision, the growth of the domestic dairy industry's A2 milk market is expected to accelerate," adding, "Seoul Milk, leading the domestic A2 milk market with its A2+ milk, will continue to introduce trusted A2 milk products to consumers based on differentiated quality and excellent raw milk."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.