28.08.2013

BMA patent for fluidised-bed drying of biomass maintained

In January 2011, a competitor had filed an opposition against a patent granted to BMA (EP-B-1 1956326) for a fluidised-bed drying method, citing a lack of inventive step and lack of novelty.


On 8 October 2012, the oral proceedings were held at the Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office in Rijswijk, the Netherlands. The chairman of the Board announced its decision, namely that BMA’s patent was to be maintained and that the opposition was to be rejected.

The appeal period has now expired and on 10 May 2013, the European Patent Office announced that the opposition proceedings were closed. The European BMA patent for fluidised-bed drying of biomass is thus maintained unchanged.