Butamax disputes Gevo bio-isobutanol patent suit
Butamax Advanced Biofuels is disputing allegations of patent infringement on bio-based isobutanol from rival producer Gevo.
“Gevo’s lawsuit against Butamax is baseless and irresponsible” said Paul Beckwith, CEO of Butamax. “When Butamax makes isobutanol, we do not use the technology claimed in the Gevo patents.
“We are so confident about this, that we offered Gevo an opportunity to independently verify that Butamax does not infringe either of these patents,” he added. “Ignoring both our offer to verify and the facts, Gevo instead filed its lawsuit.”
Butamax’s leading isobutanol production platform falls unequivocally outside the scope of either of Gevo’s patents, the company said.
Butamax said it plans to seek legal relief from this frivolous suit and was confident in the eventual result from the court.
The Gevo patents are for a limited technology, which when applied for isobutanol production, are dominated by Butamax’s intellectual property and are invalid, company officials said.
“Gevo’s patents are based on Butamax’s technology and cannot be practiced to make isobutanol without infringing Butamax’s rights” said Peter Matrai, chief operating officer. “Indeed, Gevo’s patents include clear evidence of Gevo’s use of Butamax’s technology and infringement.”
Butamax says it has been the pioneering force behind the development of renewable isobutanol. In that regard, Butamax is adding several cases to the US PTO’s Green Technology pilot program and Butamax was recently awarded another patent grant, it said.
This patent covers methods of production for butanol isomers including isobutanol, the company said.
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