January 26, 2009 12:00 AM
As a result of patent infringement claims made by EMGS in 2007, Schlumberger began a series of court actions to nullify a set of EMGS Controlled Source Electromagnetics (CSEM) patents.
On January 19, 2009 the UK Patents Court, one of the most respected patents courts in the world, decided in favor of Schlumberger by revoking all three of the UK EMGS patents in dispute. The case follows the European Patent Office rejection of EMGS's fundamental patent in September 2007 and invalidates the next three most fundamental patents for EMGS by confirming Schlumberger's position that the patents were obvious. Many of the patents claimed by EMGS are national equivalents of these four patents. The Netherlands Court deferred their ruling until the EPO decision, which is expected later this year.
Schlumberger will continue to compete in the CSEM business on the basis of the commercial and technical merits of its offerings.
Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS) is a provider of CSEM services and competitor to WesternGeco Electromagnetics.
About Schlumberger
Schlumberger is the world's leading oilfield services company supplying technology, information solutions and integrated project management that optimize reservoir performance for customers working in the oil and gas industry. The company employs more than 80,000 people of over 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries. Schlumberger supplies a wide range of products and services from seismic acquisition and processing; formation evaluation; well testing and directional drilling to well cementing and stimulation; artificial lift and well completions; and consulting, software, and information management. In 2007, Schlumberger revenue was $23.28 billion. For more information, visit www.slb.com.
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