Palo Alto, Calif. – June 20, 2012 – Cooley LLP announced today that a Delaware federal judge denied a motion for preliminary injunction against Cooley client Gevo Inc., in a patent infringement suit filed by Butamax. The Opinion, delivered on June 19, stated that "the court has concluded that plaintiff does not hold a valid patent, nor would the defendant infringe if it did."
Gevo is a leading renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company that produces its isobutanol using a proprietary recombinant yeast that is genetically engineered to produce it at a high yield. Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC is a joint venture between British Petroleum and DuPont.
A cross-office Cooley patent litigation team was led by partners Jim Brogan and Michelle Rhyu, with associates Carolyn Juarez, Jesse Dyer, and Daniel Knauss.
"The judgment marks a great step forward for Gevo," Brogan said. "Our client can now focus on growth and on the further development of its highly innovative biofuels products."
A larger team of 17 Cooley attorneys and paralegals from around the firm's US offices have been dedicated to protecting Gevo's interests during a long-running series of disputes with Butamax. Cooley has one of the nation's leading patent litigation practices and was recently named to the National Law Journal's ‘Intellectual Property Hotlist 2012' of elite IP departments at major US law firms.
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