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USPTO Affirms Gevo's Request for Reexamination of Butamax Patent

17-Apr-2012 | Source : | Visits : 9981
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Gevo Inc., an innovative renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company, announced in a press release that the US Patent Office and Trademark (USPTO) has denied a petition by ButamaxTM Advanced Biofuels, LLC (Butamax) which would have vacated the order granting Gevo's reexamination request of Butamax's U.S. Patent No. 7,851,188 ('188 Patent). In so doing, the USPTO simultaneously affirmed its original decision that all claims challenged by Gevo in the '188 patent remain rejected as unpatentable. 

"Normally we wouldn't have commented on this action, but we wanted to clear up any confusion around Butamax's public claims that the reexamination was granted in error and 'in clear conflict' with earlier USPTO decisions," said Gevo EVP and General Counsel Brett Lund. "This was obviously not the case as the USPTO backed its original decision to reject Butamax's claims in the '188 Patent." 

"We believe that this decision, once again, denounces Butamax's lawsuit and solidifies our position that the patents Butamax has asserted against Gevo are invalid and unenforceable. It also reinforces Gevo's stance that the technologies and process steps claimed by Butamax in the '188 Patent were known in the field, published in numerous scientific journals or invented by others before Butamax applied for its patent." 

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.
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