WALNUT, Calif., Feb. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- VIASPACE
provides this clarification of the press release of February 2, 2015. VIASPACE Inc. (OTC: VSPC) today
provided a synopsis of its recent activities. Additional press
releases in the near future will provide further details.
- The trademark on Giant King® Grass
has been registered by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
- The formal feasibility study for the 12 MW biomass power plant
and Giant King® Grass in Nicaragua has been completed and validates the
project plan.
- CEO, Dr. Carl Kukkonen, visited
Nicaragua in late January and met
with VIASPACE partner AGRICORP, development banks, equity
financiers, agronomic experts, and government officials.
- CEO, Dr. Carl Kukkonen, made an
invited presentation at the Platt's Caribbean Energy Conference
held January 29-30, 2015 in
San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The trademark name--Giant King® Grass-- for the
proprietary, high yield, natural hybrid, energy and animal feed
crop has been registered by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
VIASPACE applied for registration of the trademark on behalf of its
sister company VIASPACE Green Energy Inc., which markets Giant
King® Grass in China
and Taiwan. The clarification is
that VIASPACE Green Energy is the owner of the trademark.
Previously, the trademark was indicated by including the letters TM
in the description of Giant King™ Grass. The ® can only be used for
marks that have been granted federal registration. This means that
the application has been granted and the mark has been registered
with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Owning a federal trademark registration provides:
- Public notice of VIASPACE Green Energy's ownership of the
trademark
- A legal presumption of ownership of the trademark and exclusive
right to use the mark nationwide
- The ability to bring an action concerning the mark in federal
court
- The ability to record the U.S. registration with the U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Service to prevent importation
of infringing foreign goods
- The right to use the federal registration symbol ®
- Listing in the United States
Patent and Trademark Office's online databases
Giant King® Grass is a natural hybrid grass and is
not genetically modified.
To create natural hybrid plants, breeders select desirable
characteristics from two or more unique parent plants (of the
same genus, species or variety) and cross-pollinate them in a
controlled environment to create a plant with the best and
desirable features of the parent plants. Hybrids may be bred to
produce earlier or higher yields, have higher germination rates or
more cold tolerance. The process of developing a hybrid typically
requires many years. Natural hybrid vegetables and flowers have
been in the marketplace for more than 50 years.
GMO plants (GMO stands for "genetically modified organism") on
the other hand, are the result of genetic engineering. This is a
process during which the plant's DNA is altered in a way that
cannot occur naturally, and sometimes includes the insertion of
genes from other species. Giant King® Grass is not a GMO
plant and is not genetically modified or altered in any way.
Forage grasses have been hybridized for many years with the
focus on producing better animal feed--with higher protein, net
energy of lactation, palatability, etc., in addition to higher
yields. Until recently, no one was interested in developing hybrids
such as Giant King® Grass that simply increase the sheer
yield of biomass.
Giant King® Grass is a natural hybrid of two specific
cultivars of species in their genus. There are approximately 200
known cultivars of one parent and 50 of the other for a total of
10,000 potential combinations. Since each parent can either serve
as the mother or father, there are 20,000 potential hybrids.
Giant King® Grass is proprietary to VIASPACE and
VIASPACE Green Energy. No one else besides VIASPACE and its
partners/licensees have Giant King® Grass. It is the
highest yielding crop in the world. It is a perennial crop in
tropical and subtropical regions. It only needs to be replanted
every 7 to 10 years which is a major advantage. Giant
King® Grass is sterile and therefore a noninvasive
species. This has been confirmed by DNA analysis. It is easily
propagated from cuttings like sugarcane.
In addition to the well-documented and extremely high biomass
yields, Giant King® Grass when cut every two months at 5
to 8 feet tall is also an excellent animal feed with 12 – 17%
protein content.
Giant King® Grass has not been patented (which would
disclose or reveal the unique and specific hybrid cultivars), and
is treated as a trade secret much like the Coca-Cola formula. Plant
breeders may try to duplicate Giant King® Grass, but
there are many variables and testing could take many years.
Giant King® Grass is available today with the
well-documented analyses for both energy applications and animal
feed.
VIASPACE's business model is to license Giant King®
Grass to large energy or animal feed projects, and also to
co-develop projects with local partners in other regions and
countries. The high-yield of Giant King® Grass
makes it a considerably less expensive fuel or feed than competing
grasses with lower yield.
For example, consider an application such as a power plant that
needs a certain number of tons of biomass each year. Comparing
another crop that has half the yield to Giant King®
Grass:
- twice as much land to be purchased or leased to produce the
needed biomass
- twice as much irrigation infrastructure has to be
installed
- twice as many seeds will be needed to be purchased
- twice as many seeds need to be planted
- the labor and cost of planting will be twice as much
- more fertilizer will be required
- twice as much land has to be maintained including initial weed
control
- twice as much land needs to be harvested
- however, the alternative crop has no license fee as there is
for Giant King® Grass
These additional costs are required to produce the same amount
of biomass that can be produced with Giant King® Grass
on half the land. Comparing the overall costs, it is substantially
less expensive to produce Giant King® Grass biomass or
animal feed even with its license fee incorporated into the
business plan. Plus the customer is getting a well-documented,
noninvasive biomass crop or animal feed crop.
VIASPACE Chairman, Dr. Kevin
Schewe, commented, "As we have talked to various financing
entities regarding our project pipeline, it is abundantly clear
that having a reliable feedstock is the first key to the success
and commercial integrity of a biomass/bioenergy or animal feed
project. We have nailed it with Giant King® Grass. It is
reliable, well-characterized, well-documented and its extremely
high yield can turn an otherwise marginal business plan into a
successful business plan. Our formal feasibility study for our
flagship 12 MW Nicaragua biomass power plant validates the
advantages of using Giant King® Grass and we believe
that its implementation will open many new doors for VIASPACE,
Giant King® Grass and our business model."
About VIASPACE Inc.
VIASPACE grows renewable Giant
King® Grass as a low-carbon fuel for clean electricity
generation; for environmentally friendly energy pellets; and as a
feedstock for bio-methane production and for green cellulosic
biofuels, biochemicals and biomaterials. Giant King®
Grass is a proprietary, high yield, dedicated biomass energy crop.
Giant King® Grass when it is cut frequently at 4 to 5
feet tall is also excellent animal feed. The USDA granted approval
for planting Giant King® Grass throughout the US and
cooperates in exporting by performing the required inspections and
issuing the phytosanitary certificate needed for import into
foreign countries. Giant King® Grass is being grown in
California, Hawaii, St. Croix Virgin Islands, Nicaragua, South
Africa, China, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines and Guyana. For more
information, please go to www.VIASPACE.com or contact Dr.
Jan Vandersande, Director of
Communications, at 800-517-8050 or IR@VIASPACE.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Information in
this news release includes forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements relate to future events or future
performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of
activity, performance or achievements to be materially different
from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. Such factors include, without limitation, risks
outlined in our periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, including Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2013, and
other factors over which VIASPACE has little or no control.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/clarification--corporate-update-on-giant-king-grass-and-viaspace-activities-300031125.html
SOURCE VIASPACE Inc.