Australian packaging giant Amcor has closed its proposed $6.8 billion merger with the flexible packaging company Bemis, which has multiple packaging subsidiaries of its own such as Curwood. While one of the largest packaging companies in the world, Amcor noticeably does not have many US patent documents in the Biodegradable Packaging sector. And although Bemis has several more relevant documents, most of them are dated.

Regarding the merger, Amcor's CEO stated that the company is "uniquely positioned to capitalise on...the increasing need to develop packaging that best protects the product as well as the environment." Given that Bemis is US-based and the merger received antitrust clearance from the US DoJ last month, increased patent activity in this sector can be expected.