Dépêches

USPTO Affirms Gevo’s Request for Reexamination of Butamax Patent

Dépèche transmise le 12 avril 2012 par Business Wire

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEVO), an innovative renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company, announced today that the U.S. Patent Office and Trademark (USPTO) has denied a petition by Butamax^TM Advanced Biofuels, LLC (Butamax) which would have vacated the order granting Gevo’s reexamination request of Butamax’s U.S. Patent No. 7,851,188 (‘188 Patent). In so doing, the USPTO simultaneously affirmed its original decision that all claims challenged by Gevo in the '188 patent remain rejected as unpatentable.

“Normally we wouldn’t have commented on this action, but we wanted to clear up any confusion around Butamax’s public claims that the reexamination was granted in error and ‘in clear conflict’ with earlier USPTO decisions”

“Normally we wouldn’t have commented on this action, but we wanted to clear up any confusion around Butamax’s public claims that the reexamination was granted in error and ‘in clear conflict’ with earlier USPTO decisions,” said Gevo EVP and General Counsel Brett Lund. “This was obviously not the case as the USPTO backed its original decision to reject Butamax’s claims in the ‘188 Patent.”

“We believe that this decision, once again, denounces Butamax’s lawsuit and solidifies our position that the patents Butamax has asserted against Gevo are invalid and unenforceable. It also reinforces Gevo’s stance that the technologies and process steps claimed by Butamax in the ‘188 Patent were known in the field, published in numerous scientific journals or invented by others before Butamax applied for its patent.”

Further detailed information on Gevo’s Intellectual Property Portfolio can be found on the Company’s Website at www.gevo.com.

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, 2011, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the SEC by Gevo.