Danisco wins patent dispute on enzyme coating
The European Patent Office said a Novozymes patent is invalid, siding with DuPont’s Danisco unit in the latest legal spat between the world’s two largest makers of enzymes.
The European Patent Office EPO revoked the patent, which covers the technology used to coat an enzyme used for animal feed, according to a statement on the Munich-based agency.
Novozymes, which was awarded the patent in 2009, last month won an injunction against one of Danisco’s products in a Dutch court based on the EPO’s patent.
“Danisco has strongly maintained that the patent is invalid and that Danisco’s products do not infringe,” Soonhee Jang, Danisco’s chief intellectual property counsel, said in an e-mail to Bloomberg. “We are gratified and very pleased with this decision.”
Novozymes has appealed against the office’s decision and the patent will stand as granted until the EPO’s board decides on the challenge, said Annegrethe Jakobsen, a spokeswoman for the Bagsvaerd, Denmark-based company. “We still have a strong confidence in the validity of the patent,” Jakobsen said by e-mail.
The two companies are also locked in a US patent court case on an enzyme used in biofuel production.
Join 26,000+ subscribers
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated about all the need-to-know content in the feed sector, three times a week.
