CALGARY, Alberta, March 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FluroTech Ltd. (TSX-V: TEST) (OTCQB: FLURF), (“FluroTech” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that a favorable Written Opinion (“WO”) has been received for Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”) Patent Application No. CA2018/051387 (the “PCT Application”). The PCT Application entered national phase in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) on November 2, 2018. In the WO all 58 pending claims as filed were both novel and inventive. Based on this favorable WO, a request for accelerated examination may be filed at the USPTO. A request for accelerated examination of claims 1 to 32 was filed at the USPTO on March 6, 2019. The remaining claims 33 to 58 of the PCT Application have not yet been filed at the USPTO but may be filed in a continuation application at the USPTO.
The Company holds exclusive, irrevocable rights for application of the subject matter of the PCT Application and the US Application for use globally in the hemp and cannabis industry. In addition to the national phase entry in the United States, the PCT Application may be filed in any additional member states of the PCT, which currently includes 152 countries.
The CompleTestTM hemp and cannabis testing device applies technology to improve signal stability in the face of thermal and other fluctuations in the light source, which in turn facilitates improved sensitivity and accuracy, particularly for portable instruments. The technology applied in the CompleTestTM device is claimed in the pending PCT Application and US Application.
“The Canadian Intellectual Property Office acting as International Search Authority found no issued patents or published applications describing or making obvious the proprietary technology applied in the CompleTestTM system and claimed in the patent applications. This positive outcome at the international PCT stage, provides access to accelerated examination of all 32 claims filed in the United States. A continuation application including the other 26 claims that were found novel and inventive at the PCT stage and can also be filed in the United States, and accelerated examination will be available for those claims as well,” stated Dr. Elmar Prenner, Chief Technology Officer at FluroTech. “Additionally, the Company is developing technology for biomarking and is working with our legal counsel to draft and file patent applications protecting that technology, expanding the patent portfolio and supporting FluroTech’s commercialization of a second line of business.”
Developments on other advanced designs for future generations of the CompleTestTM system to maintain the Company's technical lead are in progress.
“FluroTech believes it is emerging as a leader in the cannabis and hemp-house testing space with the development of badly needed technology to improve accuracy and repeatability. We believe with our data that we are meeting that need,” commented Danny Dalla-Longa, Chief Executive Officer at FluroTech. “Global regulation, rather than prohibition, of cannabis and hemp-flower products, and particularly loosening regulations around CBD products in certain countries, is encouraging FluroTech to leverage its global patent strategy. The export and import of analytical testing devices such as CompleTestTM system are not highly regulated, which increases the global testing market the Company can access. The Company is contemplating licensing opportunities in additional geographical jurisdictions and is in negotiations with international distributors to allow for quick sales expansion of the CompleTestTM system.”
About the CompleTest™ System
The CompleTest™ system is FluroTech’s flagship brand and product line. The CompleTest™ system is a portable, cost-effective, state-of-the-art hemp and cannabis testing device, able to provide fast, accurate and consistent testing results. It is designed for cultivators, processors, nurseries, researchers, other federal licensees, and even individuals with an interest in optimizing phytocannabinoid yield or consumer safety of cannabis products.
About FluroTech (TSX-V: TEST) (OTCQB: FLURF)
FluroTech is a technology and marketing company whose core business is focused on the commercialization of new technologies in the cannabis industry. FluroTech’s proprietary spectroscopy-based technology allows for the testing and identification of organic and inorganic compounds contained within biological samples. Using the technology that was developed in part at the University of Calgary, FluroTech has developed a two-part solution comprising an instrument called the CompleTest™ system and consumable testing kits for the CompleTest™ system.
To learn more, visit www.FluroTech.com.
Contact Information
Danny Dalla-Longa
Chief Executive Officer
403.680.0644
danny@flurotech.com
FluroTech Ltd.
Alistair Ross Technology Centre
Suite 111, 3553-31 Street NW
Calgary, AB T2L 2K7
info@flurotech.com
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the securities laws of any state and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to or for the benefit or account of U.S. persons, absent such registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information generally refers to information about an issuer’s business, capital, or operations that is prospective in nature, and includes future-oriented financial information about the issuer’s prospective financial performance or financial position. The forward-looking information in this news release includes disclosure about the filing of a continuation application in respect of certain of the claims, the filing of the PCT application in additional member states of the PCT, the benefits of the WO to the Company, the development of the Company’s biomarking and the intellectual property strategy in connection therewith, development for advanced designs for future generations of the Company’s technology, the Company’s position as a leader in the cannabis testing space, the U.S. and global hemp market opportunity for the CompleTestTM system, FluroTech’s ability to expand the addressable market, the ability to develop a hemp testing protocol and the timing of the protocol completion and future licensing opportunities for the Company.
The Company made certain material assumptions, including but not limited to prevailing market conditions and general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, the need and demand for hemp testing protocol utilizing the CompleTestTM system in the U.S. and globally, the continuation of the trend of regulating and not prohibiting cannabis and hemp-flower products, including CBD and the success of future intellectual property filings, to develop the forward-looking information in this news release. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Actual results may vary from the forward-looking information in this news release due to certain material risk factors. These risk factors include, but are not limited to, adverse market conditions and regulatory and other risks associated with the cannabis and hemp industry in general, users of the Company’s CompleTestTM system and the CompleTest™ system failing to achieve the anticipated benefits of the product, changes to the anticipated regulatory regime in respect of the cannabis and hemp industry, competition from other developers of similar technology, failure to obtain patent or other intellectual property protection for the company, failure to reach commercialization of the technology and failure for the products anticipated market to develop. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of material risk factors and assumptions is not exhaustive.
The Company assumes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking information in this news release, unless it is required to do so under Canadian securities legislation.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this release.