Brett Lund, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Gevo.
ENGLEWOOD, US: Gevo Inc commented on the US Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) decision to deny Butamax Advanced Biofuels request to reexamine key claims of US Patent No 8,017,376 ('376 Patent), ‘methods of increasing dihydroxy acid dehydratase activity to improve production of fuels, chemicals and amino acids’ or AFT patent. The '376 patent covers a necessary modification for improving the activity of an enzymatic step in Gevo’s unique isobutanol pathway.
Butamax also filed a request for reexamination of US Patent No 8,101,808 covering Gevo’s foundational separation technology that provides enhanced fermentation performance and low-cost, energy-efficient isobutanol recovery or GIFTR technology. “We are extremely pleased with the USPTO’s decision to uphold key claims of our '376 patent. The USPTO only adopted a fraction of Butamax’s proposed rejections and simultaneously upheld the validity of claims we believe Butamax is infringing. Despite Butamax’s statements to the contrary, this decision is a significant win for Gevo,” said Brett Lund, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Gevo.
“Importantly, the USPTO’s decision means that Butamax is now prohibited from asserting that Gevo’s upheld claims are invalid during litigation. As evidenced by Butamax’s own publications, we are confident that they are infringing our '376 patent and we look forward to proving that in court. With this success come challenges to protect our intellectual property as we continue to be on the forefront of producing isobutanol for the commercial sector. Butamax has merely requested reexamination which hasn’t yet been granted,” said Lund
© WOC News