HOUSTON and KEMAH, Texas, Aug. 11, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American International Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMIN) today announced that three additional U.S. patent applications pertaining to the containment of undersea oil and/or gas spills have been filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). All of these patent applications are assigned to Subsea Oil Technologies, Inc. ("Subsea"), a company that is 50% owned by AMIN. The prosecution of these patent applications at the USPTO has been entrusted to the law firm of Volpe and Koenig, P.C., which is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Daniel Dror, AMIN's Chairman and CEO, stated, "As we indicated in our July 20, 2010 press release, Subsea has established an on-going program to build an intellectual property (IP) portfolio of patent applications directed towards expediting the containment of undersea oil and/or gas spills, at least until a relief well can be drilled. As we begin to explore various market and licensing opportunities, we will continue to expand and enhance the value of this IP portfolio."
1- U.S. Patent Application No. 12/840,907 entitled "Contained Top Kill Method and Apparatus for Entombing a Defective Blowout Preventer (BOP) Stack to Stop an Oil and/or Gas Spill," was filed on July 21, 2010. The claims of this application are directed towards a unique containment assembly that enables reinforcement material (e.g., cement) to be introduced into a hollow wall of the containment assembly, as well as into a hollow inner cavity that circumvents a defective BOP stack, to stop an oil and/or gas spill.
2- U.S. Patent Application No. 12/842,475 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Controlling a Valve Used to Contain Oil and/or Gas Spill Spewing from a Defective Blowout Preventer (BOP) Stack Located on an Ocean Floor," was filed on July 23, 2010. The claims of this application are directed towards the control of a valve used on a specially designed containment assembly to contain oil and/or gas spewing from a defective BOP stack. The valve may be automatically opened when the pressure within the containment assembly reaches or exceeds a predetermined threshold, or when it is desired to allow the oil and/or gas to rise to a containment vessel floating on the ocean surface.
3- U.S. Patent Application No. 12/847,326 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Fastening a Blowout Preventer (BOP) Stack Containment Assembly to an Ocean Floor," was filed on July 30, 2010. The claims of this application are directed towards a BOP stack containment assembly that is fastened and sealed to an ocean floor by utilizing a self-fastening mechanism.
Mr. Dror further stated, "Because we do not exceed 20 total claims and 3 independent claims in each of these applications, we may consider filing Petitions to Make Special under the Green Technology Pilot Program at the USPTO which, if approved, would expedite the examination process. One requirement for approval is that the claims must be directed to a single invention that materially enhances the quality of the environment. We believe that each of these patent applications would meet this requirement."
American International Industries, Inc. is a diversified holding company, with a business model similar to General Electric, Tyco International, and Berkshire Hathaway. The Company has holdings in Industry, Finance and Oil & Gas, and has a significant Real Estate portfolio, all in Houston, TX and its surrounding areas. The vision of the Company is to further develop holdings in its core industries and plans to expand its interests in the energy sector through acquisition of existing companies, applying the financial resources and management expertise to foster the growth and profitability of the acquired businesses. The holding company serves as a financial and professional partner to the management of the subsidiaries. The role of the holding company is to improve each subsidiary's access to capital, achieve economies of scale by consolidating administrative functions, and utilize the financial and management expertise of corporate personnel across all units. The Company is continuing to work with management of the subsidiary companies to improve revenues, operations and profitability.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including information about management's view of the Company's future expectations, plans and prospects, within the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," or "may," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act, and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Any statements made in this news release other than those of historical fact, about an action, event or development, are forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that we may anticipate in each of our segments reflected by our subsidiaries' operations include, among others:, continued value of our real estate portfolio; the strength of the real estate market in Houston, Texas as a whole; the ability to expand its interests in the energy sector; increased levels of competition; the dependence upon financing, the rules of regulatory authorities and risks associated with any potential acquisitions. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the results of the Company, its divisions and concepts to be materially different than those expressed or implied in such statements. These risk factors and others are included from time to time in documents the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, its Form 10-Ks, Form 10-Qs and Form 8-Ks. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on the Company's future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. The Company cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Finally, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements after the date of this release, except as required by law, and also takes no obligation to update or correct information prepared by third parties that are not paid for by the Company.