Court Dismisses All Claims in Gevo Case Against Butamax

WILMINGTON, Del., May 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Butamax™ Advanced Biofuels, LLC, the leading biobutanol technology company, announced today that the United States District Court for Delaware has issued an order dismissing the action that Gevo asserted against Butamax in relation to United States Patent No. 8,101,808 (the '808 patent). Gevo has indicated that the '808 patent claims cover Gevo's GIFT technology for the removal of isobutanol, the technology used at Gevo's Luverne plant prior to its shut down last year.    

Butamax CEO, Paul Beckwith stated "From the outset, Butamax denied infringement of the '808 patent, and challenged its validity.  The claims have now been found unpatentable by the USPTO and the case is dismissed by the Court order. We are gratified with the result."

Gevo announced the grant of the '808 patent in January 2012 under the headline 'Newly issued patent is central innovation in Gevo's retrofit strategy for isobutanol production,' and then immediately sued Butamax for patent infringement. Under reexamination, all of the original claims of the '808 patent were rejected, and all modified and added claims were found unpatentable by the USPTO.  Faced with this outcome, Gevo consented to the dismissal of its claims against Butamax.

Butamax is moving ahead with the first phase of a plant retrofit this year.  A hallmark of Butamax's development progress is the grant of 7 patents in 2013 alone, including an entirely new method for recovery of bioisobutanol from fermentation (U.S. Patent No. 8,409,834).  "We are very excited about our momentum and the commissioning of phase one of our first commercial project this year," Beckwith explained.

BP Biofuels President Philip New commented, "We are delighted with the progress that Butamax is making, and we are fully committed to the near term commercialization of Butamax biobutanol."

DuPont Global Business Director, Biorefineries and Butamax Chairman, Jan Koninckx added, "Butamax pioneered cost-effective biobutanol production technology. DuPont has huge experience in new technology introduction, and fully supports Butamax's rigorous approach for bringing its biobutanol technology to market."

About Butamax

Butamax™ Advanced Biofuels, LLC was formed to develop and commercialize biobutanol as a next generation renewable biofuel for the transport market. The company benefits from the synergy of DuPont's proven industrial biotechnology experience and BP's global fuels market knowledge. Butamax's proprietary technology offers a cost-advantaged manufacturing process for isobutanol with value from field to pump. For more information about Butamax's biobutanol technology and patent portfolio, visit www.butamax.com.

Butamax™ is a trademark of Butamax™ Advanced Biofuels, LLC.

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SOURCE Butamax Advanced Biofuels, LLC