I am posting this in order to report that I have just received a very sad email from DoNotAge.org
For a while now, DoNotAge.org has been selling Urolithin A but they have had to stop selling it due to an unjustified legal challenge from Nestle.
I think it is absolutely tragic and terrible that we live in a world where this sort of thing happens.
I have attached a PDF which contains the text of the email.
Do Not Age Urolithin A statement.pdf (102.4 KB)
That’s horrible. If I used any Nestle products I would boycott them immediately.
They actually own San Pellegrino unfortunately and Starbucks. 
Too late, I hated them already for the way they market their baby formula. Completely amoral. They don’t care at all.
I planted 6 yellow raspberries. 2 for fall and 4 for spring production. Can’t wait for my body to start churning out it’s own (non corporate) supply.
Below, are all the patent applications of Nestle, with respect to urolithin A.
Below is a primer on patents, from Cornell Law School.
The leading case on patents is Diamond v. Chakrabarty:
35 U.S.C. 101, provides:
“Whoever invents or discovers (1) any new and useful process, (2) machine, (3) manufacture, or (4) composition of matter, or any new and useful (5) improvement thereof, **may obtain a patent therefor **, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.”
There is no provision for obtaining a patent for the use to which a substance is directed, contrary to the email of Nestle:
One of their many companies has done some research using Urolithin A, and
they have protection over its use for muscle growth.
The above is neither a (1) new and useful process, (2) machine, (3) manufacture, or (4) composition of matter,
nor is it any new and useful improvement of (1) new and useful process, (2) machine, (3) manufacture, or (4) composition of matter.
Their purported research on Urolithin A for use in muscle growth is not a process, a machine, a manufacture, nor a composition of matter. Their attempt to patent use for muscle growth, therefore, is a mirage.
I would continue selling in the US, and wait for litigation. Let them file, and try to get a TRO, so that the burden of proof (that use is patentable,) falls on their shoulders. What is the worse that could happen? They get a royalty on your sales.
Upon finding for the claimant the court shall award the claimant damages adequate to compensate for the infringement, but in no event less than a reasonable royalty for the use made of the invention by the infringer, together with interest and costs as fixed by the court.
Note, it says invention. There is no invention from them, here.
They may also be awarded attorney’s fees, in “exceptional cases”. That is iffy, considering that urolithin A, the substance, is not patentable, and they so admit in their communication with DoNotAge.
The entire Patent Law is found below:
If you do a word search for “muscle” on their patent applications, only two mention “muscle”. What is being patented are:
Patent number: 11337957
Abstract: The invention provides compositions comprising a medium chain triglyceride and a urolithin.
They are applying for a patent for the process of combining a triglyceride and a urolithin.
Patent number: 11234960
Abstract: Provided are compositions comprising compounds or precursors to compounds…
The composition comprising compounds is what is being patented.
Do you think they are going after other companies like Mitopure? It looks like it’s still being sold at Timeline nutrition.
Inexpensive Urolithin A powders have recently popped up on AliExpress. But buying powders from Chinese wholesalers seems risky to me.
I would not buy any vitamins\supplements from China.
Amazentis is partnered with Nestle on Urolithin A, and Mitopure is the brand name for Amazentis of Urolithin A.
Using urolithin A in human trials implies that a precise dose is mandatory. Amazentis presented Mitopure, a proprietary urolithin A supplement, including powder and soft-gel forms. Urolithin A improves mitochondrial and muscle function – while a metabolite, indicating that the body makes it from raw materials from fruits (mainly pomegranates). Yet, not everyone can create sufficient quantities of this antiaging molecule, and that’s where the supplement comes in.
There may not be, but what company can pull together the financial resources to challenge Nestle in a patent fight like this… just sending a letter like that is enough to scare most businesses away.
Nestle’s legal team is probably fully employed by them. I am sure they are just looking for lawsuits to file in order to cut down competition and improve profits.
Then you can scratch DoNotAge from your list of suppliers, they get all their stuff from China.
That’s capitalism…
They at least test the materials they buy and have an established relationship with vendors. I am not willing to test Chinese goods. You might get the real stuff or you might not.
this is the opposite of capitalism, in capitalism the markets are free in this situation there is clearly is no freedom but there is a large company that uses the state to force a small competitor out of business
No @Arhu this is what you were sold, freedoms and public good have nothing to do with capitalism. What you are describing is the epitome of capitalism, as capital has no other intention than to grow regardless of public good or personal freedoms. Idea of free market and personal freedoms originates as propaganda slogan of capital. And we all know that capitalism is based on exploiting the weaker for one owns gains (read profit). In capitalism the only goal is to make profit. And Nestle is doing just that. It is making sure that they will profit (regardless of expense to consumer or competition).
DoNotAge can talk to UC Berkeley. Their patent is senior (2007) in time to Nestle’s. In fact, the UC Berkeley patent is to expire in 2026.
They can market their product as pomegranate-based generic urolithin precursor - “for use as your healthcare provider determines…”
If Nestle legal moves, they may have to face the entire Berkeley Law School.
yes, legal strategy is just one part of competitive strategy. Its used frequently by larger companies to crush smaller and more nimble companies.
As disappointing as it may be, Apple Computer is one of the companies that uses it most as can be seen in this current lawsuit below. No companies have the financial/legal strength that Apple has, and they use it to their advantage frequently.
It sounded like a dream partnership when Apple Inc. reached out to Joe Kiani, the founder of a company that makes blood-oxygen measurement devices. He figured his technology was a perfect fit for the Apple Watch.
Soon after meeting him, Apple began hiring employees from his company, Masimo Corp. , including engineers and its chief medical officer. Apple offered to double their salaries, Mr. Kiani said. In 2019, Apple published patents under the name of a former Masimo engineer for sensors similar to Masimo’s, documents show. The following year, Apple launched a watch that could measure blood oxygen levels.
“When Apple takes an interest in a company, it’s the kiss of death,” said Mr. Kiani. “First, you get all excited. Then you realize that the long-term plan is to do it themselves and take it all.”
So, before I get too concerned with Nestle having a monopoly on the Urolithin A market, do people here think it is a supplement worth taking?