Posted July 30, 2010

Danisco A/S has filed a U.K. patent-infringement lawsuit against Novozymes A/S just two months after Novozymes claimed patent infringement against Danisco in a U.S. court.

Genencor, a Danisco division, is headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., and has 10 manufacturing sites throughout the world. Novozymes is headquartered in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, and works in more than 30 industries globally. Both manufacture enzymes for ethanol.

A Danisco spokesperson confirmed the most recent case in an email to EPM, but said the company had no further information to disclose. The lawsuit filed in May by Novozymes against Danisco was for Danisco’s alpha-amylase products GC358 and Clearflow AA for the biofuel and starch industries, which it said it believes infringes on a Novozymes patent. The two companies have had legal troubles before. Danisco paid Novozymes $15.3 million to settle a patent dispute in 2007.

Both companies made announcements during the 2010 International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo in June. Genenor unveiled a new enzyme, Spezyme Robust Starch Liquefaction, for liquefaction of dry ground corn or milo. Novozymes announced a research and development agreement with Lignol Energy Corp. to make biofuel from wood chips and other forestry residues.