I've fed Wysong in the past to my ferrets during their transition from
kibble to raw/whole natural feeding. I used their cold processed dried
product. Reviewing the information presented on their site from the
link provided to the FML leads me to this:

While Dr, Wysong may have copyrighted what he wrote about his company's
use of probiotics, and he documented the need and/or effectiveness of
probiotics in diets the very basic truth remains; he failed to PATENT
the process of utilizing probiotics!

Simply put Purina patented the probiotic utilization process Wysong
did not; therefore Wysong owes Purina for using such processes.

There is a definitive difference between copyrighting and patenting.
Unless Wysong can produce documentation illustrating they applied for
the process patent, they won't have much of a leg to stand on in their
argument. Anyone can write about something and copyright that written
document (as long as that document isn't plagiarized) as their own
thoughts.

Is this fair? Not really, but if Wysong had recognized so early on
the benefits of probiotic inclusions and had invented a specialized
application process, he should have (or his think tank people should
have) recognized the necessity of patenting such process - then he'd be
in the position to either preclude others from using the same process
or be in the position to charge others for its use.

For what Wysong charges for a few scant ounces of their product, they
should be able to finance a legal battle relatively easily. But from
the get go it looks like the battle has already been lost due to an
oversight from Wysong's end. Chalk this up to a learning experience,
pay the piper and protect your ideas in the future!

I quit using Purina products back in the 70's after researching feed
information pertaining to horse feed. I prefer to purchase products
from local sources as compared to corporate conglomerations, and I
make all efforts to do just that. With the exception of a very few
items (like paper towels and TP, clothing, tubing for the ferrets etc)
my purchases support local companies that I can actually visit if I
choose to. It's a commitment I feel keeps local economies and small
businesses thriving.

The preceding c) by [log in to unmask] , all rights reserved;
3/29/2009

Regards,
Kim

These thoughts (c) by Kim Hillegas, all rights reserved; 3/29/2009

[Posted in FML 6287]