Corporate Report: July 8

Cott sues JLB over patents, licenses others from Rutgers
Tampa- and Ontario, Canada-based Cott Corp. has filed a civil suit to invalidate four patents owned by JLB Inc. and licensed to Decas Botanical Synergies LLC. The suit filed in the Western District of New York also argues the patents, U.S. Patent Nos. 5,474,774; 5,525,341; 5,646,178; and 5,650,432, are unenforceable and that Cott and its affiliates did not infringe them.

The suit comes on the heels of Cott Corp.'s Star PhytoNutrients division licensing patents owned by Rutgers University from Gencor Nutrients Inc. The two U.S. patents discuss the uses of certain cranberry extracts for urinary tract health and support, in products such as dietary supplements, functional foods and beverages.

Cranberries have long been associated with maintenance of urinary tract health, but it was thought to be because of the fruit's acidity. The Rutgers team isolated and identified a type of condensed tannin called proanthocyanidin from cranberries that prevents certain bacteria in the urinary tract, stomach and mouth from adhering to cells in the body. The Rutgers group discovered that this bacterial anti-adhesion effect was unique to cranberries and may be due to the presence of unusual “A-type” bonds found in their PAC molecules. Rutgers researchers have been able to isolate these cranberry PACs from the most highly concentrated sources.

“We have a strong reputation in the industry for respecting legitimate intellectual property rights of others,” says Douglas Lynch, vice president of business development for Cott Corp. “Our recent licensing of Rutgers' patents, regarding the antibacterial mechanism of cranberries, as well as our in-licensing of patents from ChromaDex to co-develop proprietary ingredients, underscores our commitment to deliver the best-in-class products, which are backed up by legitimate, validated science.”

The Star PhytoNutrients develops and markets botanical and fruit, ingredients, specializing in juice concentrates, fruit powders and fruit extracts used in food, beverages, nutrition and cosmetics.

First Advantage adds former Acxiom CFO
First Advantage of St. Petersburg has appointed Christopher Wolf as its new executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Prior to joining First Advantage, Wolf served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Acxiom Corp. He also held various executive and senior management positions with Smart Balance Inc. and Catalina Marketing Corp., among others.

“Chris is joining us at an exciting time,” Todd Mavis, CEO of First Advantage, says in a press release. “His proven track record of helping to facilitate and support high-growth objectives will be instrumental as we expand from our base of 10,000 clients worldwide.”

Lipman hires H.R. officer, from B&W Quality Growers
Immokalee-based Lipman, the largest field tomato grower in North America, has hired Hernan Parra to serve as chief human resources officer. In this newly created position, Parra will oversee all aspects of Lipman's employee development programs.

A 23-year veteran of the agricultural and produce industry, Parra started his career at Aborganic in Bogota, Colombia. He most recently served as the human resources director for B&W Quality Growers Inc.

“Hernan's international background, along with his in-depth experience in human resource leadership is a welcome addition to our company,” Kent Shoemaker, Lipman's CEO, says in a press release. “His professional strengths align with our mission of creating fresh solutions that benefit the needs of our customers and employees.”

Innovative Food Holdings reports May sales record
Innovative Food Holdings Inc. of Naples reports it had its best sales month ever in May, beating its previous monthly sales record in December. In addition, May represented the 22nd straight month of month-over-month record sales for the gourmet food purveyor.

“I believe that the May sales record is particularly impressive, and a demonstration of the strength of the company's sales growth, especially given that that the previous record month was set in December of 2010, during the historically busy holiday shopping season,” Sam Klepfish, Innovative Food Holdings' CEO, says in a press release. “As we head toward the second half of 2011 we remain excited about our core business lines, potential corporate opportunities and other areas of potential growth for the company.”

The company had not release the exact May sales number prior to deadline.

WCI Communities appoints new executive team
Bonita Springs-based WCI Communities has announced new members of its executive team as part of its reorganized corporate structure following Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Douglas Schwartz has become senior vice president of homebuilding with responsibility for all aspects of new construction including purchasing, construction, sales and marketing. Schwartz previously served as senior vice president of community operations for WCI.

Paul Erhardt is now vice president of community development and operations.

Jason Wyrick, vice president of purchasing, now has additional responsibility for all areas of purchasing.

Laura Johnston has been named vice president of marketing. Johnston previously served as a marketing consultant for WCI.

Tom Fichter has joined WCI as vice president of construction, with responsibility for all areas of new home construction and WCI Customer Care warranty services in Florida. He is a licensed building contractor with more than 20 years of construction industry experience, most recently with Taylor Morrison.

“We have worked closely with our board of directors to create an effective organizational structure and to put an experienced executive team in place that will lead WCI Communities into a strong future,” David Fry, president and CEO, says in a press release.

Nicholas Financial, Odyssey added to Russell indexes
Two Tampa-area public companies have been moved into Russell stock indexes. Clearwater-based Nicholas Financial Inc. has been added to the Russell 2000 Index. At the same time, Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. was included in the Russell 3000 and Russell Global Indexes. Both stock placements became effective June 24 and will remain in place for at least a year.

A year ago, Nicholas Financial was included on the Russell Microca Index for the first time during Russell Investment's 2010 annual reconstitution.

Indexes, such as those provided by Russell, are widely used by investment managers and institutional investors.

The Russell 3000 Index measures the performance of the largest 3,000 U.S. companies. The Russell 2000 Index, a subset of the Russell 3000, tracks small-cap companies, which have a total of $3.9 trillion in assets. The Russell Global Index measures the performance of the global equity market based on all investable equity securities, and includes approximately 10,000 securities in 48 countries.

Nicholas Financial Inc. is one of the largest publicly traded specialty consumer finance companies based in the Southeast. Odyssey Marine Exploration is a deep-ocean exploration and shipwreck recovery firm.

LexJet extends to five more major metros
Sarasota's LexJet has added five new distribution centers to its nationwide delivery network in Charlotte, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Portland. With the new centers, the company says its large format inkjet printing reaches 90% of the continental United States and 98 of the top 100 major metropolitan areas with one-day ground delivery.

The new distribution centers were scheduled to be fully online, operating and tied into LexJet's real-time delivery tracking system sometime this month.

“The addition of five distribution centers to our nationwide delivery network gives our customers the reach and flexibility they need to enhance and streamline their business,” John Lane, LexJet's vice president, says in a press release.

Walter sells $102 million of mortgage-backed notes
Tampa-based Walter Investment Management Corp. has closed the private selloff of $102 million of residential mortgage-backed notes issued by WIMC 2011-1, a new trust sponsored by Walter Investment. The notes are backed by U.S. residential mortgage loans, building and installment sale contracts, promissory notes, related mortgages and other security agreements.

The goal of the offering is to raise capital to fund the Walter Investment Management's purchase of Green Tree Credit Solutions LLC this month.

“As we near our anticipated early third quarter completion of the acquisition of Green Tree, the securitization of the unencumbered assets brings us one step closer to completing the few outstanding items required to conclude the transaction,” Mark O'Brien, Walter Investment's chairman and CEO, says in a press release. “We are quite pleased to have been able to monetize these assets at a fair price without having to sell them, which allows us to retain the valuable residual interest in the assets.”

Walter Investment Management is an asset manager, mortgage servicer and mortgage portfolio owner specializing in non-conforming, less-than-prime, and other credit-challenged mortgage assets.

Roper Industries announces dividend
Sarasota-based Roper Industries Inc. has approved a dividend of 11 cents per share payable on July 29 to stockholders of record on July 8.

Roper Industries provides engineered products and solutions for several global niche markets.

Ceelox awarded patents for vault encryption system
Tampa-based Ceelox Inc. has been issued a new encryption system patent from the U.S. Patent Office. The patent, U.S. Patent Number 7,962,755 entitled “System And Method For Biometrically Secured, Transparent Encryption And Decryption” focuses on how to biometrically enable encryption and decryption of files and folders containing sensitive data. Ceelox says its latest patent is unique because it allows a user to quickly and easily encrypt and decrypt sensitive data with a simple drag and drop, using a fingerprint to secure it.

The patent is currently used within Ceelox' Vault product and offers a file manager interface with shortcut links to automatically synchronize files located on either the host computer or the portable device. Vaults can be created by multiple users who may share a device, each with unique biometric access to the stored data.

Ceelox is a developer of biometric security and encryption software products.