Gevo Inc. v. Butamax (TM) Advanced Biofuels LLC et al
Filing
223
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER. Signed by Judge Sue L. Robinson on 12/16/2013. Associated Cases: 1:12-cv-00301-SLR, 1:12-cv-00448-SLR(fms)
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
GEVO, INC.
Plaintiffs,
v.
BUTAMAX.TM ADVANCED
BIOFUELS LLC and DU PONT,
DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY
Defendant.
GEVO, INC.
Plaintiffs,
v.
BUTAMAX.TM ADVANCED
BIOFUELS LLC and DU PONT,
DENEMOURSANDCOMPANY
Defendant.
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Civ. No. 12-301-SLR
Civ. No. 12-448-SLR
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
At Wilmington this \loth day of December, 2013, having considered plaintiff
Gevo, Inc.'s ("plaintiff') motion to dismiss (D.I. 204) 1 and the papers submitted
therewith; the court issues its decision based on the following reasoning:
1. Background. Gevo, Inc. ("Gevo") filed actions on March 13, 2012 and April
1
References are to Civ. No. 12-301-SLR, unless otherwise indicated.
17, 2012 against Butamax™ Advanced Biofuels LLC ("Butamax") and DuPont de
Nemours and Company ("DuPont") for infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 8, 133,715;
8,153,415 and 8,158,404 (collectively, the patents-in-suit). (D.I. 1; Civ. No. 12-448 D.l.
6) The patents-in-suit relate to the five-step pathway of enzymatic reactions that
converts pyruvate to isobutanol. Gevo is a corporation organized and existing under
the laws of the State of Delaware, with its principal place of business in Englewood,
Colorado. Gevo is researching and developing methods to produce isobutanol. (D. I. 1
at 1[1; D.l. 205 at 2) Butamax is a limited liability corporation organized and existing
under the laws of the State of Delaware, with its principal place of business in
Wilmington, Delaware. It develops biobutanol, a premium biofuel molecule. (D.I. 1 at
1[2) DuPont is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of
Delaware, with its principal place of business in Wilmington, Delaware. It is a science
company with leading capabilities in biotechnology. (/d. at 1J 3)
2. After conducting discovery, Gevo provided Butamax with a covenant not to
sue for the use of "Accused Technology," defined as certain modified recombinant
microorganisms. (D. I. 206, ex. 8) Based on this covenant, Gevo volunteered to
dismiss its infringement claims; however, Butamax refused to dismiss its counterclaims
of invalidity and non-infringement. Currently before the court is Gevo's motion to
dismiss Butamax's counterclaims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, based on
Gevo's covenant not to sue. (D. I. 204) The court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§§ 1331, 1338(a), 2201 and 2202.
3. Standard. Not only may the lack of subject matter jurisdiction be raised at
any time, it cannot be waived and the court is obliged to address the issue on its own
2
motion. See Moodie v. Fed. Reserve Bank of NY, 58 F.3d 879, 882 (2d Cir. 1995).
Once jurisdiction is challenged, the party asserting subject matter jurisdiction has the
burden of proving its existence. See Carpet Group lnt'l v. Oriental Rug Importers Ass'n,
Inc., 227 F.3d 62, 69 (3d Cir. 2000). The Declaratory Judgment Act requires an actual
controversy between the parties before a federal court may exercise jurisdiction. 28
U.S.C. § 2201 (a). 2 A party bringing an action for declaratory judgment must prove, by a
preponderance of the evidence, that an actual controversy exists. See Shell Oil Co. v.
Amoco Corp., 970 F.2d 885, 887 (Fed. Cir. 1992). An actual controversy exists where
"the facts alleged, under all the circumstances, show that there is a substantial
controversy, between parties having adverse legal interests, of sufficient immediacy
and reality to warrant the issuance of a declaratory judgment."3 Medlmmune, Inc. v.
Genentech, Inc., 549 U.S. 118, 127 (2007) (quoting Maryland Cas. Co. v. Pac. Coal &
Oil Co., 312 U.S. 270, 273, (1941)). This is not a bright-line test. See, e.g., Maryland
Cas., 312 U.S. at 273; Sony Elecs., Inc. v. Guardian Media Techs., Ltd., 497 F.3d 1271,
1283 (Fed. Cir. 2007).
2
Gevo's covenant not to sue and willingness to dismiss the infringement causes
of action would leave only Butamax's counterclaims for invalidity and non-infringement,
transforming the case into a declaratory judgment action.
3
"[T]he phrase 'case of actual controversy' in the [Declaratory Judgment] Act
refers to the type of 'Cases' and 'Controversies' that are justiciable under Article Ill."
Medlmmune, 549 U.S. at 127 (citing Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Haworth, 300 U.S. 227
(1937)). Consequently, the analysis of whether "a case of actual controversy" exists is
essentially an analysis of whether Article Ill standing exists. See generally id.; see also,
e.g., SanDisk Corp. v. STMicroelectronics, Inc., 480 F.3d 1372, 1381 (Fed. Cir. 2007),
Micron Tech., Inc. v. Mosaid Techs., Inc., 518 F.3d 897, 901 (Fed. Cir. 2008). For
brevity's sake, the court confines its analysis in this opinion to whether, under the
Declaratory Judgment Act, "a case of actual controversy" exists.
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4. Discussion. There is an extensive pattern of litigation between these parties.
Butamax initially sued defendant in this court on January 14, 2011, alleging
infringement of two of its patents. Butamax Advanced Biofue/s LLC v. Gevo, Inc., Civ.
No. 11-54 (D. Del. Jan. 14, 2011 ). Currently, there are eleven cases pending between
the parties, with Butamax as plaintiff in eight and Gevo as plaintiff in three. 4 The parties
are direct competitors and are in a race to develop bio-isobutanol technology.
5. Gevo asserts that the covenant not to sue is broad and "extinguish[es]
Butamax's liability with respect to every existing strain that Butamax has identified in
this litigation. (D.I. 221 at 1) Butamax disagrees with the definition and scope of the
"Accused Products" in the covenant not to sue, and argues that "its future commercial
strains will necessarily have a different genetic background from its current strains,
[therefore] the covenant must cover the use of the accused technology in the genetic
background of those future strains." (D.I. 217 at 1) Butamax states that it will likely
resume using the alleged infringing strains if the litigation is resolved in its favor. (D.I.
217 at 6-7)
6. Recombinant microorganisms, like pharmaceuticals and chemical arts, are
unpredictable. See Eisai Co. Ltd. v. Dr. Reddy's Labs. Ltd., 533 F.3d 1353, 1359 (Fed.
Cir. 2008). Although Gevo may be seeking to limit the litigation between the parties, the
covenant not to sue casts a cloud over Butamax's research and development efforts. 5
4
Seven other cases between the parties have been closed. DuPont is a party to
most of the lawsuits.
5
The parties already disagree on how to interpret the definition of "Accused
Technology" used in the covenant not to sue.
4
Under a "totality of the circumstances" review, Butamax's desire to use the alleged
infringing strains, along with the pattern of litigation between the parties and the
unpredictability of the art, constitute facts sufficient to show the existence of an actual
controversy between the parties. Dish Network v. Tivo, Inc., 604 F. Supp. 2d 719, 723724 (D. Del. 2009) (allowing a declaratory action to go forward based on litigation
history between the parties and defendant's public statements regarding the probable
infringement of plaintiff's redesigned products); Teva Pharms. USA, Inc. v. Novartis
Pharms. Corp., 482 F.3d 1330, 1344 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (finding that pending litigation
between the parties, combined with three other factors including defendant's filing of an
abbreviated new drug application, was sufficient to sustain a declaratory action).
8. Conclusion. Clearly these parties are competing to be the first to market
commercially viable bio-isobutanol technology. The problem is that they both are
pursuing litigation while pursuing research, making infringement claims a moving target
and invalidity claims the only means to create freedom to operate (i.e., to conduct their
research). Under these unusual circumstances, the court finds a justiciable
controversy. 6 For the foregoing reasons, Gevo's motion to dismiss (D. I. 204) 7 is denied.
An order shall issue.
United State
1stnct Judge
6
At the same time, the court recognizes the burdens of ongoing litigation, and
does not mean by this memorandum to commend Butamax's decision to oppose
dismissal or the parties' inability to find a non-litigation oriented means to pursue their
technology interests.
7
And corresponding motion, Civ. No. 12-448, D.l. 175.
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