Federal Court judge finds Packers Plus fracking technology patent is invalid
CALGARY — A long-running dispute over a well completion technology that helped usher in the shale oil and gas boom in North America has resulted in a Canadian court decision declaring invalid a patent held by Packers Plus Energy Services Inc.
In the decision released this week, the Federal Court of Canada says that the Calgary fracking company’s patent isn’t valid because it was an “obvious” improvement on existing techniques and had been publicly disclosed before the patent application was filed.
The decision has sweeping implications for the oil and gas industry because variations of the technology are used to free oil and gas from tight underground shale rock formations in resource plays from Texas to northeastern B.C. and around the world.
Judge James O’Reilly struck down patent infringement lawsuits filed by Packers Plus against defendants including Houston-based Weatherford International and Baker Hughes, along with producer Harvest Operations Corp. and service firms Essential Energy Services and Resource Well Completion Technologies Inc. of Calgary.