• Our Professionals
  • Our Work
  • Our Insights
  • Firm
  • Careers
  • Tools
Finnegan
404 Not Found

Not Found

The requested URL /esi/auxiliary-nav.html was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

Oil and Gas

About

Oil and Gas is part of our work in Chemical, Industrial, and Materials, and Energy.

Protecting advances in an efficiency-driven industry

While geopolitics continue to weigh, the oil and gas industry is changing as operational and technological efficiencies come to the forefront. Concerns about reducing costs, increasing safety, and protecting the environment are spurring advances in both upstream and downstream sectors of the industry, from exploration to field and pipeline development to refining. As companies develop new technologies and innovative approaches to address the challenges, it is critical that they have a sophisticated plan for safeguarding their valuable intellectual property assets. Finnegan offers a comprehensive approach to protecting their IP, whether obtaining patents and trademarks for new technologies, licensing within the industry, asserting IP rights to protect innovators from infringers, or defending against infringement suits.

Understanding the law, science, and technology

Many oil and gas innovations combine multiple technologies and scientific disciplines. Finnegan’s attorneys have technical experience in a broad array of relevant fields, including chemistry and chemical engineering, electrical and computer technologies, materials science, biotechnology, industrial manufacturing, and mechanical engineering. Our talent pool includes former in-house counsel, patent examiners, researchers, engineers, professionals with advanced degrees—including 65+ Ph.D.s–positioning us to understand both the science at the foundation of our clients’ IP assets and the relevant legal issues. We help by:

  • Advising on potential litigation strategies and deploying experienced trial and appellate teams 
  • Developing and executing prosecution strategies to ensure strong patents and a robust IP portfolio
  • Analyzing competitors’ IP to avoid infringement and identify weaknesses in their portfolios
  • Increasing portfolio value by identifying potentially high-value assets that can be improved using strategic prosecution techniques
  • Preparing and negotiating licenses and other transactions to commercialize IP rights
  • Counseling on research and development options that minimize patent obstacles
  • Providing due diligence for merger and acquisition targets
  • Providing trademark prosecution and counseling service
  • Counseling on business-related matters, including antitrust and competition issues
  • Challenging and defending post-grant review proceedings before the PTAB, including inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR)
  • Providing trademark, copyright, and advertising services

Contacts

Everyone in this industry

Experience

Total Rebuild Inc. v. PHC Fluid Power, LLC
Represented Total Rebuild in post-trial motions brought by PHC Fluid Power, seeking, inter alia, over $1,000,000 against Total Rebuild. The District Court denied PHC’s post-trial motions in their entirety.

6:15-cv-01855, W.D. La., Judge Doughty

Equistar Chemicals, LP v. ExxonMobil Chemical Patents Inc.
Successfully represented petitioner Equistar in an inter partes review (IPR), resulting in a ruling of unpatentability for all claims of a patent directed to an apparatus and process of manufacturing polyethylene in a high-pressure tubular reactor.

IPR2017-01534, PTAB, Judges Abraham, Roesel, Tornquist

PQ Corp. v. Johnson Matthey PLC
Successfully represented PQ against Johnson Matthey in an interference related to chabazite type zeolites used for selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxides.

106,065, Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, Judges Schafer, Lane, Katz

Velocys, Inc. et al. v. Catacel Corp.
Represented Catacel in a patent infringement suit involving catalytic microreactors used in the petrochemical industry.

5:10-cv-00747, N.D. Ohio, Judge Adams

Choose Energy v. American Petroleum Institute

Successfully defended American Petroleum Institute (API) in a trademark infringement suit by Choose Energy Inc., over its CHOOSE ENERGY mark.

5:14-cv-04557, N.D. Cal., Judge Grewal

Defending the integrity of the American Petroleum Institute's engine oil certification program
Finnegan has successfully defended API and its engine oil certification program in numerous district court cases and before the TTAB. In one instance, we launched a multipart, simultaneous attack on twelve defendants, filing counterfeiting, trademark infringement, and false advertising claims in two different federal courts. We obtained multiple preliminary and permanent injunctions with each defendant agreeing to settlement. In another case, defendants falsely claimed their engine oil was licensed by API to use the API engine oil quality certification marks, which denotes an oil meets the stringent API engine oil performance standards. Ultimately, the defendants admitted to counterfeiting API’s engine oil quality certification marks and making false performance claims; they agreed to a 10-year ban on bottling or marketing any engine oil for diesel engines and for use in gasoline engines in cars, vans, trucks, and motorcycles; and they paid API’s litigation costs.

13 More

Insights

Conference

Energy IP Summit 2020

December 10, 2020

Virtual

Articles

AI Patenting: Big Data, Big Opportunity for Oil and Gas

July 2020

European IP Blog

UPC Update - German Act of Approval to the UPC Is Void

20 March 2020

Articles

Oil and Gas Digitalisation: Overcoming §101 to Obtain Valuable Patents

August 16, 2019

European IP Blog

Latest Update: Publication of the New EU Copyright Directive and Discussion on Implementation

28 May 2019

Conference

Oil & Gas IP Summit

February 26-27, 2019

London

23 More

News

Media Mention

High Court Ruling to Spur Push for Broader Patent Damages

June 22, 2018

Commentary

High Court Could Open Door to Worldwide Patent Damages

April 9, 2018

Due to international data regulations, we’ve recently updated our privacy policy. Click here to read our privacy policy in full.

We use cookies on this website to provide you with the best user experience. By accepting cookies, you agree to our use of cookies. Please note that if you opt not to accept or if you disable cookies, the “Your Finnegan” feature on this website will be disabled as well. For more information on how we use cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

  • Privacy
  • Disclaimer
  • EEO Statement

© 2021 Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP