NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S. — A U.S. district court has granted a motion from Arista Cereal Technologies Pty Ltd. to dismiss a lawsuit pertaining to high-fiber wheat varieties and filed by Arcadia Biosciences, Inc. Arista Cereal Technologies licenses patents in North America exclusively to Bay State Milling.

Arcadia Biosciences, Davis, California, U.S., on Sept. 4, 2018, filed a multi-count complaint against Arista Cereal Technologies, Sydney, Australia, as well as other defendants Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients SA and Vilmorin & Cie. The lawsuit claimed that three of Arista’s patents should have included Arcadia inventors and that Arista breached certain confidentiality obligations. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed the lawsuit, according to a Jan. 11 court document.

Arista and Bay State Milling, Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S., are collaborating to work with growers to build the supply of the identify-preserved wheat. Bay State Milling offers the milled flour under the HealthSense label.

“We believe that high-amylose wheat, in the form of HealthSense flour, will be instrumental in improving public health by enabling metabolic benefits that address common ailments through foods consumers enjoy,” said Pete Levangie, chief executive officer of Bay State Milling. “We fully support Arista in their efforts to defend their intellectual property of this innovative ingredient, and we are committed to ensuring our collective success in the North American marketplace.”

Arista is a joint venture company formed by Limagrain and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national research agency. Arista’s technology increases the level of resistant starch, a dietary fiber, in the grain. Resistant starch has been shown to improve gut and metabolic health, and it also has been shown to decrease glycemic response to foods, according to Arista.

Arcadia Biosciences develops and markets food ingredients and nutritional oils. Its GoodWheat platform includes wheat varieties with high levels of resistant starch. Arcadia’s RS Good Wheat contains up to 94% amylose, which has been shown to deliver health benefits, according to the company.

“The vast majority of our GoodWheat portfolio, as well as the overall target market for our wheat, soy and other nutrition and ingredients, is unaffected by our dispute with Arista,” said Raj Ketkar, president and CEO of Arcadia. “Our global commercialization plans for those products remain on track, with first sales expected this year. We remain committed to defending our intellectual property, however, and are still pursuing other avenues to protect our technology.”

The Patent Trials and Appeals Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in an Aug. 14, 2018, decision also ruled against Arcadia Biosciences on the high-fiber wheat patents. The board said a patent application filed by Arcadia Biosciences did not describe an invention claimed in Arista’s patent.