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Waco Jury Denies Infringement on Halliburton Patents in Fracking Case

August 26, 2023 Bruce Tomaso

A federal court jury in Waco on Thursday declined to rule that a rival company infringed on Halliburton’s patents for electric fracking of oil and gas wells.

The jury agreed with U.S. Well Services, a company now owned by ProFrac, a Willow Park, Texas, oil field services company owned billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks, that the company’s fracking technology did not work in the same way as Halliburton’s patented technology.

The jury also determined that two of the three Halliburton patents at issue were invalid.

Representing U.S. Well Services in the complex litigation are, among many others, Tom Melsheimer, managing partner of the Dallas office of Winston & Strawn. 

Representing various Halliburton entities are, among many others, Roger J. Fulghum, a partner with Baker Botts in Houston and Dallas.

Melsheimer said the jury verdict, rendered in the court of U.S. District Judge Alan D. Albright, established that “there was no beef” supporting Halliburton’s claims that his client had infringed on Halliburton’s patents for electronic fracking to release underground stores of oil and natural gas.

“The real message was that Halliburton absolutely had not proven or come close to proving that our client had infringed on any legitimate Haliburton patent,” he said.

Fulghum noted that the case is one of three involving essentially the same questions and that the other two remain pending. He said Halliburton is assessing its options in deciding whether to appeal the Waco jury verdict.

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