Gevo Challenges Validity of Butamax Patent Over Biofuels
November 28, 2011, 8:45 PM ESTBy Susan Decker
(Adds patent remains enforceable in second paragraph.)
Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Gevo Inc. said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is reconsidering a patent that the agency issued in August to Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC for a fuel additive.
In a non-final action dated Nov. 25, the PTO said the patent claims were invalid, according to the agency’s website. Butamax will have a chance to respond to the agency’s findings, and by law the patent remains valid and enforceable during the review process.
Gevo rose 10 percent to $5.70 at 9:57 a.m. New York time and traded as high as $5.88 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.
Gevo, based in Englewood, Colorado, said in a statement it sought the review, adding that “substantial questions exist regarding whether others invented this technology first and that several scientific journal publications had described the technology before Butamax applied for the patent.”
Butamax, based in Wilmington, Delaware, is a joint venture of BP Plc and DuPont Co., according to information on its website.
--Editors: Michael Shepard, Steve Walsh
To contact the reporters on this story: Susan Decker in Washington at sdecker1@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net
