Cardinal Ethanol Accused of Infringement

A New York company has filed a lawsuit against Cardinal Ethanol in the United States District Court in southern Indiana, accusing Cardinal of infringing on its patent covering corn oil extraction technology. GreenShift Corporation estimates about 20 percent of the ethanol industry is using its patented processes without a license. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in southern Indiana and also seeks a preliminary injunction.

New York, NY -- GreenShift Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: GERS) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, GS CleanTech Corporation (“GreenShift”), has commenced legal action in the United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana against Cardinal Ethanol, LLC for infringing on GreenShift’s U.S. patent covering corn oil extraction technology.

The complaint alleges that Cardinal Ethanol, LLC (“Cardinal”) is infringing U.S. Patent No. 7,601,858, titled "Method of Processing Ethanol Byproducts and Related Subsystems” (the “858 Patent”). The '858 Patent covers processes for recovering corn oil by evaporating and mechanically processing thin stillage, a precursor to the distillers grain co-product of corn ethanol production (“DGS”).

A motion for preliminary injunction was also filed with the complaint. In its motion, GreenShift argues that it has sufficient evidence to prove that Cardinal is infringing GreenShift’s patented corn oil extraction technology and this infringement has caused and will continue to cause irreparable harm to GreenShift.

“There was no market for corn oil extraction from dry mill ethanol plants before we invented our now-patented technology in 2004,” said Kevin Kreisler, GreenShift’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We estimate that more than about 20% of the ethanol industry has begun to use our technology without a license. While we are eager to earn the business of each last producer, we expect to have the opportunity to do so by helping each to realize additional value.”

“We innovated corn oil extraction technology, created the corn oil extraction market, and subsidized disruptive value creation for the U.S. corn ethanol industry; we have earned our patents and we deserve the full measure of the first mover competitive advantage. This, and any other, continued infringement is causing GreenShift irreparable and immediate harm and it must stop.”

A copy of GreenShift’s filing is available online at www.greenshift.com.

About GreenShift Corporation

GreenShift Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: GERS) develops and commercializes clean technologies designed to address the financial and environmental needs of its clients by decreasing raw material needs, facilitating co-product reuse, and reducing the generation of wastes and emissions.

GreenShift’s mission is to build shareholder value by using its technologies to catalyze disruptive environmental gain. GreenShift believes that the first, best and most cost-effective way to achieve this is to develop technology-driven economic incentives that motivate large populations of people and companies to make incremental environmental contributions that are collectively very significant.

With adoption by most of the U.S. ethanol industry, GreenShift’s commercially-available technologies can give way to disruptive gains by enabling sustainably increased production of globally-meaningful quantities of renewable fuels for distribution through existing supply chains.

GreenShift also maintains its strong commitment to continued innovation and has many additional patents pending for its Backend Fractionation™ portfolio of strategically-compatible cleantech designed to continue driving the corn ethanol industry into increased sustainability and global competitiveness.

source: insideindianabusiness