On Thursday, October 11, 2012 Neochloris (plaintiff) launched a suit against Nalco (defendant) for patent infringement in the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois (case no. 1:12-cv-08194).

Neochloris is in the process of developing a technology that converts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or industrial emissions to biofuel by means of algae. Nalco is an Ecolab company and a supplier of water, hygiene and energy technologies and services that provide and protect clean water, safe food, abundant energy and healthy environments.

The patent US6845336 involved in this suit is currently assigned* to Constant Compliance (source: MaxVal’s Assignment Database) which has been acquired by Neochloris. The patent entitled Water Treatment Monitoring System was issued on January 18, 2005 and expires[i] on June 25, 2022.

According to the complaint, the defendant’s product 3D TRASAR technology system infringes the ‘336 patent. 3D TRASAR optimizes cooling water system stress, to minimize total cost of operation and prevent operational problems. It measures key system parameters related to scaling, corrosion and bio-activity, detects upset conditions, responds with appropriate corrective action and communicates with system operators.

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