News

Temptime Corporation, a US supplier of time temperature indicators, has filed a complaint in the United States District Court against Timestrip, the manufacturer of smart labels for packaging.

The firm alleges that Timestrip's patent-pending iStrip label, which changes colour if the temperature drops below a specific point, infringes US Patent 7,343,872.

Timestrip has taken legal advice on the issue and believes it has no liability and the complaint will have no material effect on its business.

Timestrip joint chief executive Reuben Isbitksy said: "This complaint has nothing to do with our core Timestrip smart label technology it is just about the iStrip freeze indicator."

The iStrip consists of a liquid formulation encapsulated in a label or blister. Because the volume of liquid needed is very small, the indicator can be manufactured as a two-dimensional label, suitable for standard label application techniques.

The market for this technology includes live vaccines and biopharmaceuticals, which have to be transported and stored in temperatures ranging from 2°C to 7°C but are vulnerable to damage if the temperature drops below 0°C.

In July Timestrip raised £562,500 by placing 25 million new shares with Monaco-based private investor Graham Platts on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

The shares represented around 6% of the company's issued share capital and the firm also entered into an unconditional agreement to raise a further £437,500 through an additional placing of shares with the investor.

In April Timestrip said it was urgently looking to raise funds through an equity placement on the AIM before it ran out of cash at the end of May.

The Hertfordshire firm raised net proceeds of £1.02m through a share issue of nearly 54 million new ordinary shares during May.

Timestrip said in February that it had taken orders for its iStrip label from DHL Healthcare Logistics and distributors to pharmaceutical companies in the UK and North America.

DHL Healthcare Logistics will use the iStrip label in its cold chain logistics operations, following a pilot project last year.