Tesco Corp. v. Weatherford International, Inc.

904 F. Supp. 2d 638, 2012 WL 6087426, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173041
District Court, S.D. Texas·Decided December 6, 2012·No. Civil Action No. H-08-2531·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

KEITH P. ELLISON, District Judge.

Pending before the Court are the following motions:

— Frank’s Casing Crew & Rental Tools, Inc.’s (“Frank’s”) Motion for Attorney’s Fees for Post-Trial Discovery and New Trial (if Granted) (Doc. No. 633);
— Frank’s Posh-Trial Motion for Summary Judgment on Obviousness Based Upon Tesco Prior Art Brochures (Doc. No. 713);
— National Oilwell Vareo, L.P. (“NOV”) and Offshore Energy Services, Inc.’s (“OES”) Motion for Summary Judgment of Patent Invalidity Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) Obviousness (Doc. No. 723); and
— Frank’s, NOV, and OES’s Motion for Reconsideration of the Court’s Denial (Doc. No. 805) of Defendants’ Posh-Trial Motions for Summary Judgment on an On-Sale Bar (Doc. Nos. 712, 721). (Doc. No. 813.)

The Court also previously stayed decision of the following motions:

— Frank’s Motion for Entry of Judgment of Inequitable Conduct (Doc. No. 590); and
— Frank’s Revised Sealed Motion for Judgment of Inequitable Conduct in View of Therasense. (Doc. No. 609.)

This Memorandum and Order addresses the post-trial motion for summary judgment filed by Frank’s (Doc. No. 713) and the post-trial motion for summary judgment filed jointly by NOV and OES (Doc. No. 723) on the question of obviousness. Upon considering the Motions, all responses thereto, and the applicable law, the Court finds that Frank’s Post-Trial Motion for Summary Judgment on Obviousness Based Upon Tesco Prior Art Brochures (Doc. No. 713) and NOV and OES’s Motion for Summary Judgment of Patent Invalidity Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) Obviousness (Doc. No. 723) must be GRANTED.

I. BACKGROUND

This proceeding was filed in 2008, and has been the subject of previous rulings of the Court. E.g., Doc. Nos. 386, 805. The background set forth in earlier writings will not be repeated, except as necessary to provide context for the facts and law discussed herein.

Tesco owns U.S. Patent No. 7,140,443 (“the '443 patent”) and U.S. Patent No. [640]*6407,377,324 (“the '324 patent”). The '324 patent, granted in May 2008, is a continuation of the '443 patent, granted in November 2006. The two patents describe a tool used on a drilling rig. Drilling rigs are used to bore and encase holes in the ground for the purpose of extracting oil. The patents describe an apparatus and method for handling the sections of the pipe or pipe strings that are used for drilling or lining a well bore. Stated summarily, the patent covers a “Case Drilling System with a link tilt” referred to by all parties as “CDS with link tilt.” More detailed descriptions of the device and its function can be found in the Court’s earlier opinions.

Tesco brought suit against Weatherford International, Inc., NOV, OES, and Frank’s for infringement of those patents.1 After re-examination of the patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”), lengthy discovery and many pre-trial motions, the Court and the parties spent three weeks in jury trial. The jury found that claims 27 and 55 of the '443 patent, and claim 14 of the '324 patent were valid. The jury found that claims 13, 25 and 59 of the '443 patent and claims 1 and 12 of the '324 patent were not valid.

Plaintiff sought to have the Court enter judgment on the verdict. Defendants sought judgment as a matter of law in their favor. The Court did neither. Rather, because of internal inconsistencies in the jury verdict, and because of concern— re-enforced during the trial — that Tesco had not produced all of the discovery that Defendants had properly requested, the Court authorized limited additional discovery.

After engaging in limited post-trial discovery, the parties filed numerous post-trial motions. The Court has already addressed and denied Defendants’ motions for summary judgment under the on-sale bar provision, 35 U.S.C. § 102(b). (Doc. No. 805.) The Court has also held several extensive hearings about the post-trial motions, and recently denied Tesco’s motion for entry of judgment on the verdict, and NOV and OES’s motion for summary judgment based on anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b). (Doc. No. 808.) The Court now turns to the post-trial motions for summary judgment filed by Frank’s, NOV and OES on the question of obviousness. (Doc. Nos. 713, 723.)

Defendants argue that Tesco’s patent claims are invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) because an August 2002 brochure (“August brochure”) created and distributed by Tesco revealed the only novel aspect of Tesco’s invention, rendering the invention obvious as a combination of prior art. (Doc. No. 713, at 16-20; Doc. No. 723, at 8-12.) They also argue that moving the link arms down to the casing drive system was obvious to try because the inadequate reach of the link arms used in prior art was a known problem with a limited number of solutions. (Doc. No. 713, at 15-16; Doc. No. 723, at 6-7.) The Court addresses the latter argument first. Finding it dispositive, the Court does not decide the former.

II. APPLICABLE LAW

A. Legal Standard for Summary Judgment

A motion for summary judgment requires the Court to determine whether the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law based on the evidence thus far presented. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)(2). [641]*641“Summary judgment is appropriate when, drawing all justifiable inferences in the nonmovant’s favor, there exists no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, Inc. v. Maersk Contractors USA, Inc., 617 F.3d 1296, 1302 (Fed.Cir.2010). “[A] dispute about a material fact is genuine ... if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return , a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

The Court views all evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and draws all reasonable inferences in that party’s favor. Crawford v. Formosa Plastics Corp., 234 F.3d 899, 902 (5th Cir.2000). The Court may not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000).

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Tesco Corp. v. Weatherford International, Inc., 904 F. Supp. 2d 638, 2012 WL 6087426, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173041 (S.D. Tex. 2012).

904 F. Supp. 2d 638 (Tesco Corp. v. Weatherford International, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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