Patents by Inventor Ivica M. Labuda

Ivica M. Labuda has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Opening system for beverage container
    Patent number: 6270255
    Abstract: An easy-open beverage container and opening system therefor includes first and second barrier walls having top edges and upper portions of opposite side edges which matingly face one another and which form an open top therebetween. A bifold membrane with a longitudinal fold is located in the open top. A membrane attachment securely attaches peripheral edges of the bifold membrane to adjacent top edges and upper portions of the opposite side edges such that the bifold membrane closes the open top and the facing top edges of the barrier walls are movable away from one another to expose the longitudinal fold for piercing by a straw. In a preferred embodiment, a side attachment securely attaches facing portions of the peripheral edges of the bifold membrane adjacent the upper portions of the opposite side edges so that the facing upper portions of the opposite side edges are not movable away from one another and thus the facing top edges tend to stay together and protect the bifold membrane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2001
    Assignee: Kraft Foods, Inc.
    Inventors: Richard H. Kaufman, Ivica M. Labuda
  • Process for the preparation of nootkatone by laccase catalysis
    Patent number: 6200786
    Abstract: A method of producing nootkatone by laccase catalyzed oxidation of valencene. Valencene and a composition having laccase activity are reacted in the presence of an oxygen source, at a valencene concentration greater than 0.1%, to form valencene hydroperoxide. Optionally, a mediator and/or a solvent at a concentration that maintains laccase activity may also be included. The valencene hydroperoxide is degraded to form nootkatone, and nootkatone is then recovered. The method produces nootkatone in commercially viable yields.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2001
    Assignee: Givaudan S.A.
    Inventors: Rongmin Huang, Philip A. Christenson, Ivica M. Labuda
  • Bioconversion process for the production of vanillin
    Patent number: 5279950
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a process for the production of vanillin through the bioconversion of a vanillin precursor with a tissue culture of undifferentiated callus cells derived from a vanilla plant and/or enzymes obtained therefrom in the presence of a water soluble sulfhydryl compound and optionally, also in the presence of an assimilable carbon source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 1992
    Date of Patent: January 18, 1994
    Assignee: Kraft General Foods, Inc.
    Inventors: Ivica M. Labuda, Steven K. Goers, Kathleen A. Keon
  • Bioconversion process for the production of vanillin
    Patent number: 5128253
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a process for the production of vanillin through the bioconversion of a vanillin precursor with a ferulic acid degrading microorganism in the presence of a water soluble sulfhydryl compound and optionally, also in the presence of an assimilable carbon source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 1991
    Date of Patent: July 7, 1992
    Assignee: Kraft General Foods, Inc.
    Inventors: Ivica M. Labuda, Steven K. Goers, Kathleen A. Keon