US materials supplier Invista has obtained a permanent injunction against Italy-headquartered M&G Group relating to infringement of Invista’s US patent on its Polyshield PET barrier resin. Auriga Polymers Inc, part of Indorama Polymers, is Invista's exclusive licensee for Polyshield in the US.

On May 5, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied the motion by M&G to stay a permanent injunction, which was entered by the Delaware US District Court last month. M&G is appealing to the Federal Circuit the District Court's entry of final judgment on infringement and validity and the entry of the permanent injunction. According to Invista, it is committed to enforcing its strong patent portfolio and protecting its intellectual property assets and the interests of its customers.

Thailand-based Indorama acquired Invista’s PET polymer and resins manufacturing facility located in Spartanburg in 2011. Polyshield resin monolayer PET barrier technology was designed to meet the shelf life and barrier requirements of oxygen-sensitive food and beverages. Invista is one of the world's largest producers of nylon 6.6 resins and compounds.

Invista/Lanzatech further R&D agreement

In other news, Invista and LanzaTech have signed a R&D agreement focused on the development of gas-fermentation process technology for the production of industrial chemicals from carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas (CO2 and H2) feedstocks. This will be done using proprietary Invista host organisms and metabolic pathways. If successful, the first commercialisation of this technology is expected as early as 2018.

Invista and LanzaTech also signed a collaborative agreement in August 2012 to investigate gas fermentation as a route to biobased butadiene, for Invista’s use in the production of nylon. At that time, it was based on carbon monoxide as a feedstock. The collaboration will initially focus on the production of butadiene in a 2-step process from LanzaTech CO-derived 2,3-butanediol (2,3 BDO). A direct single step process will also be developed to produce butadiene directly through a process of gas fermentation. Initial commercialisation is expected in 2016. LanzaTech’s 15,000 gal/year pilot facility at a steel mill in New Zealand produces ethanol and 2,3 BDO from waste carbon monoxide gas. In Shanghai, China, LanzaTech’s 100,000-gallon/year demonstration uses waste gases from a Baosteel steel mill to produce ethanol.

In its latest announcement, Invista believes biotechnology has the potential to significantly improve the cost and availability of several chemicals and raw materials that are used to produce its current products. It views gas fermentation as a key enabling technology that will allow the use of potentially advantaged gas feedstocks, such as waste industrial gases including carbon dioxide.

LanzaTech is a leader in gas-fermentation technology that provides novel and economic routes to fuels and high value chemicals from waste carbon streams. By leveraging waste resources, LanzaTech’s solutions mitigate carbon emissions from industry without adversely impacting food or land security. LanzaTech, a company founded in New Zealand and headquartered in the US has partnerships and investors in the US, India, Malaysia, Japan, and the UK with two commercial facilities slotted for construction in 2015 in China.