U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Grants Gevo Inc's Request For Reexamination And Invalidates Butamax Patent `889

Gevo Inc announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has agreed to reexamine U.S. Patent No. 7,993,889 (`889 Patent) owned by Butamax Biofuels LLC (Butamax), determining that substantial questions of patentability exist. In addition to granting the reexamination, the USPTO issued an office action finding that all challenged claims are invalid. The USPTO agreed with Gevo`s petition 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.