Danisco Loses the First Round in Patent Battle with Novozymes

Danisco has lost a US court bid to invalidate a patent held by Novozymes for an engineered enzyme used to produce biofuel.  

Novozymes claims that one of Danisco’s products infringes a patent it holds for a thermostable alpha amylase enzyme. This enzyme converts starch to sugars, which can then be fermented to produce bioethanol. The thermostability of the enzyme is a key detail.  Usually enzymes operate optimally at moderate temperatures and are destroyed at high temperatures. However, higher temperatures make the reaction faster; therefore an enzyme that retains its activity at these temperatures can increase yields.

After the initial action from Novozymes stating that Danisco was infringing on its patent, Danisco came back by challenging the validity of the patent; seeking a judgment from US District Judge Barbara Crabb to back up its counter-claim. This has been rejected on the grounds that the “defendants haven't met their burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the 723 patent is invalid as a matter of law, and now it is likely that the case will go to trial. However, Danisco still seems confident; Soonhee Jang, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel at Danisco claims that it isn’t “unusual that the court doesn't grant a motion such as this in an early phase of a trial. We are still confident and will go forward with the trial. We believe we will prevail. Danisco argue that the Novozymes patent does not fully describe Novozymes enzyme, and despite refusing their action, Judge Crabb agreed to some extent. 

As the case involves two of the largest enzyme manufacturers for biofuel, this case will have an impact on the Bioethanol industry and also on the wider biobased chemicals market. Thermostable enzymes are of great value to the biobased chemicals industry: the manufacturers that have access to those technologies will have a considerable competitive advantage. One wonders how the ruling will affect future developments and innovation regarding thermostable enzymes and how the trial will affect the bioethanol enzymes landscape in general. The trial will take place in October and I will be keeping an eye on how this develops.