U.S. Patent No. 9,987,567 B1 issued on June 5, 2018, to inventor Ryan Delmoral Ko, of Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, and applicant/assignee NextLeaf Solutions Ltd., of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. NextLeaf is an extraction and distillation processing company of cannabis material. NextLeaf represents one of many cannabis-industry companies awaiting the country-wide legalization of cannabis in Canada on October 17, 2018. Patent ‘567 is entitled “Cannabinoid extraction process and system,” and the specification discloses a process including extraction of cannabis material through filtration, decarboxylation, and distillation of the final product. Ethanol is used, in a 10:1 ratio to cannabis material, to assist extraction and filtration, at a cooling temperature of -40° C. to -50° C. After draining, the plant material forms a ethanol and crude oil mixture. This mixture is further drained, then reheated, and further filtered to remove excess ethanol. The remaining crude oil is then decarboxylated, and then distilled into a final product of a tasteless and odorless oil, containing 99% of pure cannabinoids. The claims are directed to this new extraction process.
The primary International Patent Classification is B01D, or separation of solids from wet methods (evaporation, distillation, crystallization, filtration, dust precipitation, gas cleaning, absorption, adsorption, and similar processes which are not concerned with, or limited to, separation).
This is, yet again, another example of another extraction technique being patented in this growing cannabis market. Please contact Yonaxis for more information on patenting processes or patenting of new cannabis technology.