LOS ANGELES, CA, Jan. 11, 2011 -- N.E.I. Treatment Systems, a global market leader in Ballast Water Treatment Systems (BWTS) for the maritime industry, announced today that patents for the Company's VOS™ Ballast Water Treatment System have been granted in Japan and South Korea. Patents for N.E.I.'s unique BWTS technology were previously issued in the United States, Canada, the European Union, and other key jurisdictions in Europe and Asia, representing twenty-two major Maritime Flag States where the Company's intellectual property is now protected. Remaining N.E.I. patents are currently pending in China, Brazil and Turkey.
Issuance of the Japanese and South Korean patents for the VOS™ BWTS represent a key milestone for N.E.I. and its technology licensees -- Mitsubishi Kakoki Kaisha, Ltd. (MKK) of Japan and Samgong Co., Ltd. of South Korea. Commenting on the patent approvals, N.E.I. CEO Jon Slangerup said: "This is an important step forward for the Company and for our strategic partners in Japan and South Korea, further strengthening our position in two of the largest shipbuilding and ballast water management markets in the world. MKK and Samgong have both made significant investments in the resources needed to aggressively pursue and capture the BWTS business in their respective markets, and these patents are key to this mission."
MKK and Samgong have built state-of-the-art manufacturing, assembly and test facilities to support their market plans for the VOS™ BWTS. N.E.I.'s partnerships with MKK and Samgong extend beyond exclusive VOS™ licensing rights to also providing manufacturing and logistics support for N.E.I.'s global market activities. Commenting further, N.E.I. President Peter McNulty said: "MKK and Samgong are long-established market leaders in the marine supply and service businesses in Japan and South Korea. Our strategic relationships with these two veteran leaders ensure our ability to rapidly scale operations to meet growing market demand for BWTS throughout the world."
About N.E.I. Treatment Systems
Established in 1997, N.E.I. is a California-based private company and a global market leader in Ballast Water Treatment Systems (BWTS) solutions. The Company manufactures and markets its patented and type-approved Venturi Oxygen Stripping™ (VOS) BWTS solutions through an exclusive network of licensee, sales and service partnerships in fifteen countries around the world. VOS™ fully complies with pending IMO and USCG Ballast Water Management (BWM) regulations which eliminate invasive aquatic organisms transported via ships' ballast tanks. VOS™ is unique among competing BWTS solutions because it does not use chemicals (active substances) to satisfy BWM discharge standards. Instead, VOS™ uses deoxygenation and cavitation technology to create a low-oxygen environment within ships' ballast tanks, which safely eliminates invasive species while simultaneously reducing rust and corrosion of steel and tank coatings, thereby saving millions of dollars in ballast tank maintenance costs. For more information about VOS™ ballast water treatment, please visit N.E.I at http://www.nei-marine.com.
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