Gevo Refutes Butamax’s Unfounded Allegations of KARI Enzyme Patent Infringement
March 12 2012 - 7:42PM
Business Wire
Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO), an innovative renewable chemicals and
advanced biofuels company, responded to the latest lawsuit filed by
Butamax™ Biofuels LLC (Butamax) related to U.S. Patent No.
8,129,162 covering a modified Pseudomonas KARI enzyme.
“Butamax’s allegations of patent infringement are unfounded and
a reaction to our recent successes,” said Brett Lund, EVP &
General Counsel at Gevo. “We are on the forefront of
commercializing isobutanol. We specialize in converting existing
ethanol plants into biorefineries to create building block products
for the chemical and fuel industries. Our technology is simply
different.”
Gevo asserts that it does not infringe the enzyme claimed in
Butamax’s patent. “Gevo has never and will never use the
Pseudomonas KARI enzyme described in Butamax’s claims,” added Lund.
Gevo has developed a fundamentally different enzyme derived from E.
coli, covered under U.S. Patent No. 8,097,440.
“The USPTO agrees with the position that our E. coli NKR enzyme
is different from Butamax’s Pseudomonas KARI enzyme, because we
cited Butamax’s patent application as prior art when we were
awarded our NKR patent,” said Lund.
“As we’ve advanced, we’ve realized the value of our unique
approach to isobutanol production and our R&D team has
developed intellectual property for every phase of production
including protecting own enzyme pathway. Gevo’s technology offers
our customers a unique advantage of drop-in alternatives in the
petro-chemical and advanced biofuel chains.”
“We see this lawsuit as another attempt by Butamax to stall our
significant advances in the commercialization of isobutanol,”
continued Lund. “Our development goals are aggressive so opposition
from competitors is expected. We are on the cusp of starting up the
world's first commercial renewable isobutanol plant in the next
several months using our industry leading technology.”
Since January 2011, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has
awarded Gevo five patents as it continues to build its extensive
patent portfolio consisting of more than 300 patents and
applications for the economic production of isobutanol, process
innovations and downstream product applications.
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.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements include statements that are not purely statements of
historical fact, and can sometimes be identified by our use of
terms such as “intend,” “expect,” “plan,” “estimate,” “future,”
“strive” and similar words. These forward-looking statements are
made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and
assumptions of the management of Gevo and are subject to
significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All
such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are
made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise
these statements, whether as a result of new information, future
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, 2010,
and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings
made with the SEC by Gevo.
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