USTPO Affirms Key Claims of Gevo’s “AFT” Patent
03 Mai 2012 - 9:43PM
Business Wire
Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO), a leading renewable chemicals and
next generation biofuels company, commented on the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office’s (USPTO) decision to deny a Butamax™ Advanced
Biofuels, LLC (Butamax) request to reexamine key claims of U.S.
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.
“We are extremely pleased with the USPTO’s decision to uphold
key claims of our ‘376 Patent,” said Brett Lund, Gevo’s EVP and
General Counsel. “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, and bolsters our pending infringement case against
Butamax.”
“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,” added Lund.
The ‘376 Patent covers a necessary modification for improving
the activity of an enzymatic step in Gevo's unique isobutanol
pathway. While Butamax has publicly chastised Gevo’s lawsuit as
“frivolous,” Gevo believes Butamax chose to challenge the ‘376
Patent because it is a modification strictly required for achieving
commercially relevant production of isobutanol in yeast.
Butamax also filed a request for reexamination of U.S. Patent
No. 8,101,808 (‘808 Patent) covering Gevo’s foundational separation
technology that provides enhanced fermentation performance and
low-cost, energy-efficient isobutanol recovery or GIFTR technology.
“Butamax has merely requested reexamination which hasn’t yet been
granted. Similar to the ‘376 Patent, we are confident that our
claims will withstand this challenge,” said Lund.
"We expect the breadth and strength of our patent estate to
expand rapidly over the coming months,” continued Lund. “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.”
About Gevo
Gevo is converting existing ethanol plants into biorefineries to
make renewable building block products for the chemical and fuel
industries. The Company plans to convert renewable raw materials
into isobutanol and renewable hydrocarbons that can be directly
integrated on a “drop in” basis into existing chemical and fuel
products to deliver environmental and economic benefits. Gevo is
committed to a sustainable biobased economy that meets society’s
needs for plentiful food and clean air and water. For more
information, visit www.gevo.com
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"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
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significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to
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such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are
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events or otherwise. Although the company believes that the
expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are
reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties
that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be
expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a
further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ from those expressed in these
forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the
business of Gevo in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual
Report on Form 10-K of Gevo for the year ended December 31, 2011,
and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings
made with the SEC by Gevo.
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