U.S. Court Finds WesternGeco Patents Valid
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently affirmed the 2014 judgment that ION Geophysical Corp. infringed four seminal WesternGeco LLP patents covering streamer steering technology for marine seismic surveys, and that WesternGeco is the rightful owner of the pioneering technology. In 2009, WesternGeco filed suit for patent infringement against ION's DigiFIN streamer steering system in U.S. federal court in Houston, Texas. ION was found to infringe one patent on summary judgment, and a 2012 jury found that ION infringed three more WesternGeco patents and rejected all of ION's invalidity arguments. The trial court affirmed the jury's verdict, awarded WesternGeco supplemental damages and permanently enjoined ION from continuing to infringe with the DigiFIN system.
Polarcus Innovation in Seismic Vessel Design
Polarcus Limited received its eighth 3D seismic vessel on 21 June 2012 when Polarcus Adira was delivered at Ulstein Verft in Norway. The vessel is the second of two 12-14 streamer Arctic 3D seismic vessels built at the yard, and is the eighth vessel in the Polarcus fleet of the Ulstein SX134 design. The marine geophysical company Polarcus Limited received its eighth 3D seismic vessel on 21 June 2012 when Polarcus Adira was delivered at Ulstein Verft in Norway. The vessel is the second of two 12-14 streamer Arctic 3D seismic vessels built at the yard…
Jury DeIivers Verdict on ION Geophysical Survey Patent Lawsuit
ION Geophysical Corporation announce verdict on marine survey streamer control system, vow to overturn it. ION Geophysical Corporation announce the jury returned a verdict against Ion in a patent infringement lawsuit filed against them by WesternGeco L.L.C. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The lawsuit alleged that ION's DigiFIN™ lateral streamer control system infringed several method and apparatus claims contained in four WesternGeco U.S. patents regarding control systems for marine seismic streamer steering devices. The jury found that ION willfully infringed the claims contained in WesternGeco's patents and awarded WesternGeco the sum of $105.9 million in damages, consisting of $12.5 million in reasonable royalty and $93.4 million in lost profits.
ION – Polarcus Contract
ION Geophysical Corporation (NYSE:IO) announced that its Marine Imaging Systems group was awarded a fleet-wide contract by The Polarcus Group of Companies (Polarcus), a new entrant in the marine seismic market, to equip all six of its new vessels with four streamer positioning and control technologies from ION's Intelligent Acquisition(TM) [IA] portfolio. This is the largest-ever commitment to ION's Intelligent Acquisition Marine Seismic Portfolio. The contract, with a value in excess of $25m, includes DigiFIN(TM), CompassBIRD(TM), DigiRANGE(TM) II, and Orca(R) command & control systems. (www.iongeo.com)
