November 2002

EFP ENTERS NANOTECH

AGREEMENTEmergency Filtration Pro-ducts Inc (EFP) has enteredinto an agreement with Nano-Scale Materials Inc to exploreopportunities to utilize andexpand its technologies.

NanoScale is an acceptednanotech provider under theNational NanotechnologyInitiative approved byPresident Bush. The initiativehas been allotted US$714 mil-lion to research potential nan-otechnology benefits in anarray of applications rangingfrom biochemical defence tomedical imaging.

EFP intends to capitalizeon nanotechnologies by coat-ing its filtration products with asubstance that eradicates anybiological contaminant – eitherviral or bacterial – contactingthe filter media. The companybelieves this addition to its0.027 micron filtration effi-ciencies will greatly enhanceits products’ desirability ingovernment, military, medicaland civilian markets.

HYFLUX BECOMESBIOTECH

STAKEHOLDER Hyflux Ltd’s wholly ownedsubsidiary Hyflux Engineer-ing Pte Ltd is to take a 19.5%equity interest in a newChinese biotechnology ven-ture known as Sinolac(Singapore) Pte Ltd.

Sinolac was incorporatedon 16 October 2002 to own andoperate a biotechnology manu-facturing facility in China. Theplant, which is set for comple-tion in the first quarter of 2004,will have an initial productioncapacity of 10 000 metrictonnes of organic acid per year.

Hyflux’s investment is$S2.9 million or US$1.7 mil-lion. Under the agreement,Hyflux will be contracted tosupply the process plant, includ-ing the membrane filtration

system worth S$27.4 million(US$15.4 million). Sinolac’swholly owned subsidiary inChina will also be licensing thegroup’s proprietary membranetechnology for use in the facilityat a fee of S$3.5 million (US$2million) for a five-year period,during which time Hyflux willalso operate and maintain theplant.

Olivia Lum, Hyflux’s CEOand president, said the deal wasstrategic in several ways. Itwould enable the group tojumpstart the commercializa-tion of its technology; garner asupply deal that could serve as aspringboard to supplying cus-tomers in other sectors of thebiotech industry; and provide arecurring source of income.

The investment will befunded from the proceeds ofHyflux’s private shares place-ment in June 2002.

The other participants inthe venture are GimmillIndustrial (Pte) Ltd and 2GCapital Pte Ltd, with 45% and35.5% stakes, respectively.

PURADYNANNOUNCES

CO-BRANDINGALLIANCE WITH

FRAM puraDYN Filter TechnologiesInc and FRAM Filters haveagreed a strategic relation-ship whereby end users willbe offered an integrated oilfiltration system comprisingFRAM full-flow filtrationand the puraDYN by-pass oilfiltration system.

Honeywell ConsumerProducts Group, which manu-factures FRAM Filters, willoffer the three most popularpuraDYN by-pass oil filtrationsystems along with the relatedreplacement cartridges andservice parts through its exten-sive North American distribu-tion network.

“The puraDYN/FRAMrelationship is the first of itskind and offers a complete full-flow–by-pass filtration solution

for vehicle equipment owners,just in time for the increasedfiltration requirements createdby the new emission standardswhich go into effect in October2002,” said Richard Ford,puraDYN’s CEO.

NEW RULING INPALL–CUNOPATENT SUIT

A US District Court hasjudged that Cuno Inc’sPolyPro XL and Life Assurefilters infringe two Pall Corppatents that cover the com-pany’s ULTIPLEAT filter.

Pall now intends to ask thatthe US District Court for theEastern District of New Yorkorders Cuno to stop makingand selling the infringingitems. Cuno, meanwhile, con-tinues to believe that Pall’spatents are invalid and unen-forceable by Pall, and says itwill appeal the ruling.

The ULTIPLEAT productline is widely used in a broadspectrum of industries andapplications. Cuno says that theproducts at the centre of the lit-igation are earlier generationsof the PolyPro XL and LifeAssure filters, combined salesof which were less than 1% ofCuno’s total sales in fiscal2001. Alternative pleat configu-rations have been adopted forthese products, which are unen-cumbered by the Pall patents.

Pall initially brought suitagainst Cuno in December1997. In September 2000,Judge Johanna Seybert heardevidence as to the meaning ofcertain terms in the patentclaims; a year later she rejectedCuno’s proposed claim inter-pretation and ruled that the dis-puted claim terms should begiven their ordinary and accus-tomed meaning. Pall filed amotion for summary judge-ment of infringement of 57claims in the two patents inOctober 2001, and the Courtreached its decision thatCuno’s filters infringe all of theasserted claims of the patentsin October 2002.

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Filtration Industry Analyst

IN BRIEF

• Zenon Environmental Inchas recently won a clutchof awards. The first,Canada’s Exporter of theYear, was made by theCanadian Department ofForeign Affairs andInternational Trade. A sec-ond award for OutstandingBusiness Achievement wasawarded by the OntarioChamber of Commerce –Zenon also received thisdistinction in 1998. Finally,Zenon became the firstrecipient of the CanadianInnovation Award forSustainable Developmentat the Canadian Manufac-turers and exporters’ annualconference.

• Scheibler Filters Ltd’sname has changed to LaroxUK Ltd following its acqui-sition by Larox in Septem-ber 2002 (see FiltrationIndustry Analyst, July andOctober 2002). All the com-pany’s activities are based atthe Retford office inNottinghamshire, UK.

• Aqua Care Systems Inchas been delisted from theNasdaq SmallCap StockMarket and now trades onthe OTC Bulletin Boardunder the symbol AQCR.The company was warnedin July 2002 that it did notcomply with either the min-imum US$2 million net tan-gible assets or the minimum$2.5 million stockholders’equity requirements.

• Activated-carbon manufac-turer Carbon ResourcesLLC of Oceanside, Califor-nia has opened an office inPennsylvania to improveEast Coast market coveragein the USA. Frank Trenga,national sales manager, willmanage the office and haveresponsibility for marketingand sales of activated carbonproducts including bamboo-base powders and pellets,and low-density granularcoal-based carbons.