US biofuels producer Poet alleges misappropriation of trade secrets in federal lawsuit

US bioethanol producer Poet has filed a lawsuit in US District Court of Sioux Falls alleging that the Sioux Falls-based company Nelson Engineering has misappropriated Poet’s trade secrets.

The lawsuit is captioned “POET, LLC and POET Research, Inc. v. Nelson Engineering and Jerry Baker,” Case No. CIV 17-4029.

The trade secret in question is known at Poet as “Delayed Dilution,” a technology that allows Poet to achieve increased ethanol production from each fermenter in the process. 

“Poet has invested significant time and money into developing proprietary technology and processes that contribute to our long-standing success as an industry leader,” said POET president and COO Jeff Lautt.

He added: “We will do whatever necessary to protect our intellectual property from unauthorized use by others.”

This story was written by Liz Gyekye, editor of Biofuels International.