Patented Micronization

[Kavaking]

Hi All

I wanted to start building up some information about Kava King and I feel like this is an important aspect to Kava King

At Kava King we have a patented form of Micronization.

A link to our patent - http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6,238,722.PN.&OS=PN/6,238,722&RS=PN/6,238,722

Another quick point I would like to say briefly.

You see a lot of people selling 'Green Kava' but 'Green Kava' is simply fresh kava that has not been dried/dehydrated. You cannot have micronized or instant green kava. I am not too familiar with exporting kava out of countries like Fiji, Tonga or other but in Vanuatu you cannot export undried or sterilized Kava.

 

[Deleted User01]

Welcome to the forum @Kavaking. I have a question for you. Does your patented process of micronization involve removing the coarse fiber know as "makas". Or are you talking about the process for making your instant?

 

[Kavaking]

@Henry

We have patented the A specific process of taking the Kava Kava root and grinding it so small that it can be mixed perfectly into water or another liquid to become 100% drinkable.

 

[TheKavaSociety]

@Henry

We have patented the entire process of taking the Kava Kava root and grinding it so small that it can be mixed perfectly into water or another liquid to become 100% drinkable.

Yes, but that is a very general process. Are you saying that nobody can grind kava to a powder finer than your powder without infringing on your patent?

 

[Deleted User01]

@Henry, I'm kind of confused too. When I look at the product on their Web Site, it looks like they are selling instant, not micronized. So I though maybe we were using the wrong terminology.

 

[Kavaking]

@Henry

I just grabbed the patent copy I have in the office here is the Abstract word for word.
US Patent #6,238,722
"A method for preparing Kava root involves a multi-stage grinding process to give a resulting very small particle size. Because kava root is fibrous, and tends to catch fire when ground extremely small, an ambient nitrogen atmosphere is provided during one or more stages of the grinding process to prevent combustion. The resultant very finely ground Kava powder is preferably mixed with other materials, such as ascorbic acid and other food-grade acids, to remover the objectionable taste."

 

[Kavaking]

@Henry, I'm kind of confused too. When I look at the product on their Web Site, it looks like they are selling instant, not micronized. So I though maybe we were using the wrong terminology.

Deleted User01 - I'm going to get back to you about your other question when I consult the right person on that. To answer the comment above though the product is both micronized and an instant

 

[verticity]

Here is the patent.
It looks like the "innovative part" is they do the grinding under a nitrogen atmosphere so the kava particles don't catch on fire from the friction, which is kind of hilarious.
@Kavaking I would also be interested to know if you remove the makas before grinding like GHK does

 

[Kavaking]

Here is the patent.
It looks like the "innovative part" is they do the grinding under a nitrogen atmosphere so the kava particles don't catch on fire from the friction, which is kind of hilarious.
@Kavaking I would also be interested to know if you remove the makas before grinding like GHK does

Right, it allows the kava to be made into an incredibly fine powder, if were to try to grind it to that point without it like you said it would ignite. If you were to only grind it to the level that you could before a fire would start the product is sub-par

 

[Deleted User01]

Deleted User01 - I'm going to get back to you about your other question when I consult the right person on that. To answer the comment above though the product is both micronized and an instant

Ok thanks. From what I understand, instant kava is manufactured by dehydrating kava tea. So resulting powder dissolves in solution as much as kava is capable of dissolving. I looked at your Web Site again and studied the product very carefully. I think you are selling what we might call "fine grind micronized". But to be true micronized kava, it has to have the makas removed or else it is "fine grind toss and wash". So please let me know what you find out on the makas issue.

And to make sure there are no misunderstandings, I will state our definition of "makas". It is the coarse fibers that are normally filtered out using the traditional method of squeezing and straining. Thank you for playing "Makas, Makas whose got the Makas".

Anyway, the rest of your product line looks pretty cool. Looks like you got chocolate . That might be tempting for a Newbie looking to overcome reverse tolerance. The rest of you smokers can check out their Kava Cigars. Pretty unique stuff.

 

[TheKavaSociety]

Right, it allows the kava to be made into an incredibly fine powder, if were to try to grind it to that point without it like you said it would ignite. If you were to only grind it to the level that you could before a fire would start the product is sub-par

Right, I understand now. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[verticity]

Simply put if the kava is ground into a fine 100% powder in instant form for drink mix and it is not ours there are two possibilities.

1 - It is not truly micronized in the way I defined above
2. They are infringing on our patent.

There is actually a third possibility:
3. They are using a different process for micronization that does not infringe on the patent.

And, I just learned that by mixing Crystal Light powder with my kava I have apparently been infringing with this part of the patent:

And yes I am kidding, and do realize that the patent is for the "whole process"..

 

[verticity]

I can think of other ways this could be done, besides a N2 atmosphere:

- Cooling the hammer mill with circulated water
- Grinding for a longer time at lower speed
- Sifting out larger particles after grinding

I guess what I am trying to point out is that this patent applies to a very specific process. Kava King does not have a patent on extremely finely ground kava powder.

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

First off let me welcome Kava King to the forums. As I said they are a good company and they are GMP compliant, that is a big plus and it is great that they are doing this. I do recommend there kava, it is a good product and I have some right now, I would not drink there kava if it was not a good kava. I do drink mostly Hawaiian but I do like good kava from all over the world as long as it is Noble and Kava King has 100% pure Noble kava as shown by the chemotype in there COA and there DNA fingerprinting. I might suggest that Kava King look into getting there kava tested and approved by "True Kava Labs".
Lets all welcome Kava King to this great kava forums that we all belong to. Aloha nui loa.

Chris

 

[Runding]

After reading the patent, I'm so confused as to why you would patent, or at least publicly document your recipe's percentages.

A drink mix which contains finely ground Kava, and provides all of its benefits, can be made as follows: provide approximately 8% by dry weight ascorbic acid, 0.1%-5.0% stevia, with the remainder finely ground Kava powder prepared as described above. This results in a powder blend which can be mixed with water or other drinks to provide the benefits of Kava with an acceptable taste. In this drink, the stevia may be replaced with a sweetener such as a fructose or other sugar-based sweetener. However, the relative proportion of such a sweetener will need to be increased over the percentage described above. The proportions given above may vary relatively widely, depending an the materials mixed with the Kava root, and the intended end use of the mix. For example, the ascorbic or other acid may vary in the range of approximately 1% to 20%, and the sweetener or other additive material may vary in the range of approximately 0.1% to 10%.

The portions near the top of the invention info discuss in a bit more detail, but now that I know what to neutralize the taste of kava with, I think I'll try it at home.

 

[verticity]

After reading the patent, I'm so confused as to why you would patent, or at least publicly document your recipe's percentages.
The portions near the top of the invention info discuss in a bit more detail, but now that I know what to neutralize the taste of kava with, I think I'll try it at home.

That's just part of their whole "process" which is what is patented. It has to be public to be part of the patent. It's not illegal to make that recipe yourself at home--it probably would not be illegal even to sell it, what they could sue you for is if you sell a micronized kava product with that recipe made using a specially modified hammer mill with nitrogen atmosphere as described in the patent, which is actually the innovative part, not the recipe.

 

[Kavaking]

@Deleted User
Oh its alright, its great to come in to a community and realize that you still have much to learn. I would like to thank everyone for participating in the discussion and I will get around to answering those questions I did not answer before. Its a great thing to see the members of the board are truly passionate about Kava.

 

[Runding]

That's just part of their whole "process" which is what is patented. It has to be public to be part of the patent. It's not illegal to make that recipe yourself at home--it probably would not be illegal even to sell it, what they could sue you for is if you sell a micronized kava product with that recipe made using a specially modified hammer mill with nitrogen atmosphere as described in the patent, which is actually the innovative part, not the recipe.

That's essentially my point. The invention, really, is the nitrogen filled milling process; the recipe is intellectual property. Why share the recipe in a patent? You've already made anything micronized in that way a part of the patent, so why over share? Just curious.