Corked

I was intrigued to read an article in Grapegrower & Winemaker online from CorkGuard Closures Ltd introducing SmartCork to the Australian wine industry. Owner David Taylor tested a number of technologies, and  - very correctly – determined there was no mileage in developing a synthetic closure due to elasticity issues and the scalping impact on the bouquet of the wine by polymers used in the manufacture of synthetic corks. He went on to patent a technology for coating natural cork with a high performance oxygen barrier membrane, using machinery required to coat corks automatically and in volume. I am intrigued, because ProCork, which has been on the market in Australia for a number of years, apparently uses a very similar technology, and certainly produces a closure combing natural cork with the synthetic membrane. So who has exactly what patents?