The UK Court of Appeal decision, published on Feb. 24, dismissed the appeals related to a 2025 High Court judgement which validated one and rejected two of dsm-firmenich’s claims of patent infringement.
The Dutch nutrition giant initiated court proceedings in 2023 asserting infringement of patents related to the standard DHA microbial oil product and DHA Plus (>55% DHA) product produced by Mara and its since closed UK subsidiary Algal Omega-3 Ltd, which entered administration in May 2025.
The High Court accepted dsm-firmenich’s first claim related to an expired patent covering the use of a protease enzyme in the extraction of microbial oil from the ocean organism Schizochytrium.
But the Judge rejected its infringement claim for a patent related to the production of a crude oil from a Thraustochytrid microorganism. The High Court Judge concluded the claim was invalid on several grounds, including that it did not sufficiently disclose the invention it laid claim to.
For example, in one of its arguments Mara highlighted the patent’s inventive contribution related to one specific microorganism that helped yield microbial oils, yet dsm-firmenich laid claim to “a whole swathe of the field of high DHA oils on the strength of that one strain, while leaving untouched the burden on the skilled person to screen for further strains.”
The Judge agreed that this was a claim that “exceeds its technical contribution” and was therefore insufficient.
The Court further denied there had been infringement of a third patent related to the microbial oil extraction process which solves the emulsion problem without the use of organic solvents. The claim was found invalid for reasons of obviousness.
Dsm-firmenich’s total estimated costs were reported to be £4.4 milion, while Mara’s were £3.1 million. The High Court ordered the Dutch firm to pay a quarter of Mara’s costs, amounting to £800,530.
Mara appealed the validation of dsm-firmenich’s first claim, and the Dutch firm appealed the invalidation of the third claim, but the newly published Court of Appeal decision upheld all the High Court’s original conclusions.
“Mara appreciates the Court’s careful consideration of the issues over the lengthy course of these legal proceedings,” said Charles Perez, vice president of legal and corporate development at Mara. “We welcome the clarity this decision provides.”
Harry Boot, Mara CEO and board member, said: “Consumers benefit from having access to a broad range of great tasting, high quality precision fermentation derived omega-3 solutions, and we believe we have the best tasting and highest quality omega-3 oil in the market, driven by the exceptional characteristics of our microalgal strains and our fermentation expertise.”
“With this decision from the UK courts, we are now even more confident about Mara’s future,” he added.
Any costs awarded will be decided following the ruling.
In response to an inquiry by NutraIngredients, dsm-firmenich declined to comment.
