McCormick & Company, Inc. filed IPR2026-00416 on July 9, 2026, challenging U.S. Patent 9,332,776, "Methods and Apparatus for Low Heat Spray Drying," issued May 10, 2016 and owned by ZoomEssence, Inc. The petition presented three obviousness grounds covering claims 1-5 and 7-19. ZoomEssence asserts the patent in ZoomEssence, Inc. v. McCormick & Company, Inc., No. 2:25-cv-01240 (E.D. Tex.), filed December 19, 2025 against McCormick & Company, Inc., FONA International, LLC, and FONA Technologies, LLC. The complaint alleges that McCormick infringes the '776 patent and U.S. Patent 9,551,527, and it alleges trade secret misappropriation under the Defend Trade Secrets Act against all three defendants.
The decision
On November 3, 2026, USPTO Director John A. Squires issued a notice of decisions on institution stating that, under 35 U.S.C. §§ 314(a) and 324(a), after review of discretionary and non-merits considerations, institution was denied in IPR2026-00416 and PGR2026-00062. The notice lists the two proceedings together. The denial is Paper 11 in IPR2026-00416.