Oct 3, 2017

Bee Vectoring Technologies gets two new patent approvals

Mississauga, Ontario-based Bee Vectoring Technologies (BVT) has received notice of allowance of key patent applications in two new and significant agricultural markets:

• Chile Patent No. 53.259: Represents the first patent secured by the company in South America

• Japan Patent No. 6066496: Represents the first patent secured in Japan, and strengthens the Asian patent portfolio which already includes a previously approved patent in China.

“These patent approvals are important milestones for the company as Chile and Japan are significant anchor countries for the agricultural markets of South America and Asia respectively,” said BVT CEO Ashish Malik.

“The crop protection market in Chile and Japan combined is estimated to be U.S. $2.7 billion. In particular, fruit and vegetable crops make up a very significant portion of both the Chilean and Japanese markets, and both are amongst the largest markets in the world,” Malik said. “Securing patents in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia allows us to pursue the global market opportunity that exists for crop protection with confidence and helps ensure our approach of being first to market with our proprietary solutions.”

Malik added “With these patents secured, BVT safeguards our competitive advantage and allows us to further our business development discussions with potential partners who are showing interest in working with us to introduce our system to growers worldwide. Many partners have a strong preference in working only with proprietary and patent-protected technologies. As we move through the commercialization process, these partners will be critical to our success in these markets and provide scalability quickly and efficiently.”

BVT’s technology described in these patents includes a specialist apparatus for the treatment of plants with inoculants and control agents to manage diverse diseases and pests and enhance the yield and quality of crops. The inoculants and control agents are housed in proprietary removable trays within a dispenser system that is incorporated in the lid of commercial bumble bee hives. The bumblebees pick up the inoculant on their way out of the hive and deliver the treatment to the plant in a very targeted and sustainable way.

BVT has also filed a patent application with the U.S. patent office for a system that allows the delivery of plant protection products to crops using commercial honeybees. The company is pursuing an aggressive Intellectual Property (IP) strategy that covers five different patent families and 60 patent applications worldwide. The IP strategy supports the Company’s documented growth strategy to selectively expand its market opportunities while it drives towards commercialization of its proprietary system in the U.S.

BVT has developed and owns patent-pending bee vectoring technology that is designed to harmlessly utilize bumblebees and honeybees as natural delivery mechanisms for a variety of powdered mixtures comprised of organic compounds that inhibit or control common crop diseases, while at the same time enhancing crop vigor and productivity. This unique and proprietary process enables a targeted delivery of crop controls using the simple process of bee pollination to replace traditional crop spraying, resulting in better yields, superior quality, and less impact on the environment without the use of water or disruptions to labour.

Additional information can be viewed at www.beevt.com.