Cardinal Ethanol LLC (PK) (CRDE) News

GERS Receives Offer To Restart Litigation Against CRDE...


CleanTech subsequently received an opinion of counsel that its remaining seven of twelve corn oil extraction patents are clearly valid and enforceable, along with a contingency-based offer to restart the infringement litigation from scratch. We are evaluating our rights and remedies in connection with all applicable matters, and we are unable to characterize or evaluate the probability of any outcome at this time




Further, in connection with ongoing patent filings, the USPTO allowed CleanTech’s new corn oil extraction patents after considering the very information that the District Court found to have been withheld, and upon which the bulk of the District Court’s rulings were based. All of the information alleged to have been “knowingly withheld” from the USPTO in connection with the patents in suit was provided to and considered by the USPTO prior to issuance of several additional patents that are not covered by the District Court’s prior rulings (the “New Patents”). The USPTO subsequently disagreed that deception of any kind occurred when, on February 21, 2020, it issued another patent to us after reviewing the very evidence that was allegedly “withheld,” along with everything the defendants ever submitted and claimed, as well as the District Court’s 2014 and 2016 rulings – all in light of the facts that were never presented to a jury. Significantly, the new patent was allowed by the same examiner that the District Court said was deceived. In other words, the same patent examiner that was allegedly deceived looked at the purported evidence and claims of deception, and disagreed that she had ever been deceived. Thus, in issuing that patent, the examiner concluded that the inventive process was not “ready for patenting” in July 2003, that an invalidating “offer for sale” did not occur in July 2003, and that the “ready for patenting” and “offer for sale” information that the District Court determined to have been “deliberately withheld” from the USPTO was immaterial to patentability.


https://cleantech-alpha.com/technologies/

Good Luck To All!$!$

I’m posting this for myself to use as a future reference...

Although Cardinal is privately held, they still file with the SEC...

Pg 15 from 10-K filed 11/22/17...

We are subject to litigation involving our corn oil extraction technology. We have been sued by GS CleanTech Corporation asserting its intellectual property rights to certain corn oil extraction processes we obtained from ICM, Inc. in August 2008. GS CleanTech is seeking to enforce its patent rights against ICM and the Company. The court ruled that all of the patents claimed by GS CleanTech were invalid, that the Company had not infringed and that the patents were invalid due to inequitable conduct before the US Patent and Trademark Office by the inventors and their attorneys. However, these rulings are subject to appeal. If GS CleanTech is successful in its appeal and allowed to continue to pursue its claims against the Company, we may be forced to pay damages to GS CleanTech as a result of our use of such technology and cease our production of corn oil.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1352081/000135208117000026/cardinal10-kfye9x30x17.htm

All CRDE filings...

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1352081/000135208117000026/0001352081-17-000026-index.htm

A Cardinal's Confession...

Defendant, Cardinal Ethanol, prepares for a confession of judgment.

"Our operating agreement currently provides that the consent of a majority of the total outstanding membership units entitled to vote is required in order for the Company to confess a judgment in an amount in excess of $500,000. The Board of Directors has concluded that it is in the best interests of the Company to amend the operating agreement to remove this requirement and permit the Board of Directors the flexibility to enter into confessions of judgment on behalf of the Company as part of its authority to manage the business and affairs of the Company.

Accordingly, it is proposed that the Company amend Section 5.7(b) of the operating agreement as follows (crossed out language reflects the change):

(b) The Directors shall not have authority to, and they covenant and agree that they shall not cause the Company to, without the consent of a majority of the Membership Voting Interests:

(i)
Merge, consolidate, exchange or otherwise dispose of at one time all or substantially all of the Property, except for a liquidating sale of the Property in connection with the dissolution of the Company;


(ii)
(lined through)--->Confess a judgment against the Company in an amount in excess of $500,000;

Page 11...
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1352081/000135208117000030/a2018proxystatement.htm

"DEFINITION of 'Confession Of Judgment' A written agreement signed by the defendant that accepts the liability and amount of damages that was agreed on. A confession of judgment is a way to circumvent normal court proceedings and avoid a lengthy legal process to resolve a dispute."

According to Cardinal's latest 10-K, the only pending "legal proceeding" is the patent infringement lawsuit. Therefor, the need for a "confession of judgment" can only mean one thing...

(bottom of page 18)
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1352081/000135208117000026/cardinal10-kfye9x30x17.htm

Good Luck To All!$!$

CRDE And GERS To Settle Patent Lawsuit!$!$!$

Finally, after many years of litigation over CRDE's unlicensed use of GERS' corn oil extraction patents, the parties appear poised to settle the dispute.

The parties have until October 27, 2017 to "work out remaining details of a settlement between them."

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_ch8gAs4lCcS1B3LUc0azZlVTA/view

It's nice to see that CRDE and GERS are ready to work together!

Back To The Basics: ICM Abandons The AOS...

ICM sold CRDE their oil extraction system.

It appears the Advanced Oil System has been pulled off the market. Could this be settlement related?

www.icminc.com/products/advanced-oil-separation-system.html

The AOS is no longer a product offering.

http://www.icminc.com/products/base-tricanter-system.html

A small caption in this link states "information updated 9/12/17"

http://www.icminc.com/images/pdfs/product_sheets_international/Base%20Tricanter%20System.pdf

Also, no mention of the AOS in this recent Biodiesel Magazine article.

http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/articles/2516107/spotlight-here-to-serve-the-biodiesel-industry

Good Luck To All!$!$!$

$12,250 Up 53%