U.S. District Court Invalidates Kaneka Patent Clearing Way for Cocrystal Tech’s CrysQnol

On September 2, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled in favor of Cocrystal Technology (Jiaxing) Co., Ltd., invalidating Kaneka Corporation's U.S. Patent No. 7,829,080. This decision clears the way for Cocrystal Tech to continue manufacturing, marketing, and selling its ubiquinol ingredient, CrysQnol™, in the United States without restriction.

The court's ruling stems from Kaneka's lawsuit filed in October 2023, which alleged that Cocrystal Tech's flagship ubiquinol ingredient, Crystal QH®, infringed on the '080 Patent. The asserted claims of the patent covered compositions of reduced coenzyme Q10 containing any amount of reduced coenzyme Q11, a naturally occurring minor component found in CoQ10 materials. Despite Cocrystal Tech acknowledging that its product fell within the literal language of the asserted claims, it maintained throughout the litigation that the claims were invalid.

In its Memorandum and Order, the court found that Kaneka failed to meet the utility and enablement requirements of U.S. patent law. It agreed with Cocrystal Tech's argument that Kaneka's asserted invention was based on an untested hypothesis rather than a patentable invention. The court further noted that even Kaneka's own inventors and expert witnesses could not explain or study the stabilizing effects of coenzyme Q11.

With the asserted patent claims invalidated, the ruling brings a significant amount of finality to a dispute that has spanned nearly three years. This decision removes a major source of legal uncertainty for the U.S. nutraceutical industry, allowing brand partners, formulators, contract manufacturing organizations, and distributors to evaluate CrysQnol™ on its own technical and commercial merits. These merits include stability, bioavailability, formulation flexibility, supply security, and cost efficiency.

Cocrystal Tech, which is the world's first company to apply pharmaceutical-grade cocrystal technology to human nutrition, has been a leader in the development of high-value nutrition solutions. Dr. Xuefeng Mei, the founder of Cocrystal Tech, expressed satisfaction with the court's decision, stating, "Our focus has never been on following an established path, but on solving difficult scientific problems through our own research and technology. We are pleased that the Court has recognized the importance of the issues at stake in this case."

As part of this legal milestone, Cocrystal Tech has initiated the transition to its new CrysQnol™ brand, formalizing the rebrand across its global trademark matrix. Customers and partners can expect full continuity of formulation and specifications through this transition, with the CrysQnol™ brand now serving as the unified identity for Cocrystal's ubiquinol ingredient.

Cocrystal Tech continues to expand its portfolio of premium, science-backed nutritional ingredients, including CrysQnol™, CurCutine™, Precitein™, and UroRenu™, all built on the company's proprietary Cocrysta™ technology platform. The company is committed to protecting and growing its intellectual property portfolio and investing in research that differentiates its ingredients in an increasingly competitive global market.