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Court Finds Danisco Willfully Infringed Novozymes Enzyme Patent

19 February 2007

A federal court in Delaware ordered Danisco to pay damages of $4,088,584 plus prejudgment interest for infringing a Novozymes patent on an enzyme used to manufacture bioethanol.

The federal court also found that Danisco wilfully infringed Novozymes’ patent and that the case was exceptional. As a result, the court doubled the damages and also awarded Novozymes attorneys’ fees and costs.

The court also issued a permanent injunction against Danisco preventing future violations of Novozymes’ patent.

The case began in March 2005 when Novozymes brought a patent infringement litigation against Genencor International Inc., which was subsequently acquired by Danisco A/S. The litigation was based on the sales of Genencor’s product Spezyme Ethyl to the American market for bioethanol and other industries.

In August 2006, a Federal District Court in Delaware, USA held that Spezyme Ethyl infringed Novozymes’ patent. At that time, Danisco chose to withdraw the product from the market. (Earlier post.)

Both Novozymes and Danisco now have 30 days to appeal against the ruling.

February 19, 2007 in Biotech, Ethanol | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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Comments

When a court is so blunt about a decision it makes you wonder why the losing side went into court at all.

Posted by: K | Feb 19, 2007 10:31:36 AM

Capitalism at its' finest. Steal something and try to keep going as long as you can. If you know you are wrong, then you have nothing to loose by bluffing, you just gamble repaying later. This doubled fine was probably not forseen. Myopic greed got them.

Posted by: Andy | Feb 19, 2007 10:56:50 AM

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