On October 5th, 2012, the US Patent Office issued a Notice of Allowance for US patent application n.12/903.921 protecting COPAN's invention relating to a method for collection and transfer of biological samples with flocked swabs. This allowance follows the grant of previous patent, US 8,114,027, issued on February 14, 2012. The additional patent has a broader scope of protection, and further strengthens COPAN's exclusive rights on use of flocked swab for collection of biological samples in the US.

"The approval of the patent application is an important achievement for Copan since it confirms unequivocally the Copan invention on flocked swabs. In other words, all the arguments publicly alleged in the past by imitators to justify their behavior are overcome and we hope this will bring clarity to the Markets" says Daniele Triva, COPAN Group's CEO and Founder.

COPAN Flocked Swabs have changed pre-analytics in Microbiology by giving clinicians an intuitive and easy to use sample collection tool that improves diagnostics. Numerous independent studies have proven that the use of COPAN Flocked Swabs significantly improves the quantity and quality of samples collected and released into different culture and assay platforms, and COPAN Flocked products are widely recognized as the gold standard in sample collection.

For more information, visit www.copanitalia.com