Title: Practical IP Lessons From the Field: Protecting Innovation in Oil & Gas
Speakers: Charles Baker and Greg Len
Greg Len (00:09):
Welcome, Charles. Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today about IP issues in oil and gas companies. Although we’ve both practiced in the IP area for many years, we just became colleagues this year with the merger of Troutman Pepper and Locke Lord. Last year, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bill Bellinger for this video series, and he told me about how he was lucky enough early in his career to work on an oil and gas patent litigation case with you. Could you tell us a little bit about what that case was?
Charles Baker (00:36):
Sure. Just as a backdrop, Bill and I had worked together. He was a very young first-year associate, and I was a new partner at another law firm. When we got involved in this case, we had already been involved in some other similar litigation, and people knew about us, so we were brought in. The client was unhappy with their prior representation.
The technology in this case is pretty basic, you would think. It involved a wellhead assembly — the very top of a wellhead. It’s a large, heavy component that has to hold the weight of the entire drill string, which can be tons. So it’s a very important component. The client was being sued by a competitor over a patent involving this particular type of wellhead, and we were able to come in, position the case, and get it to a point that eventually led to a very good settlement for our client.
The interesting thing is that Bill helped out tremendously. He’s more on the engineering side of things, and while I don’t have a technical background, I’m a litigator, so I rely on people like Bill to help us out — and he did a great job on that case.
Because of the way it got resolved, that case then led to a referral from opposing counsel to another client in a very similar situation, but on the offensive side. We filed patent infringement cases over similar technology, and we also had some state court trade secret cases involving employees who had taken confidential information. All very good outcomes, and it was great to see Bill again at our meeting six months ago.
Greg Len (02:23):
That’s a great compliment to the work you guys did — when the other side refers you for future work. That’s amazing.
Charles Baker (02:27):
Yeah.
Greg Len (02:27):
Within the energy industry sector, as broad as oil and gas, can you give us some examples of IP issues that come up in different areas of the industry?
Charles Baker (02:36):
Sure. The oil and gas industry is broken down into three components: upstream, midstream, and downstream. My experience has been that the upstream is where you’re going to see most IP disputes, because that’s where equipment is being made and sold. You have service companies supplying goods and products that may be subject to patent, trade secret, or other IP protection. That’s where most of my experience has been.
Midstream, you don’t see too much, because midstream is basically pipelines — who’s moving product through a pipeline and how it eventually gets to the downstream operator.
The downstream companies are the big major oil and gas companies — the ExxonMobils, the Chevrons of the world. They’ve got huge refineries and production plants all along the Gulf Coast and other areas. My experience on the downstream side has not been so much about enforcement. You don’t typically see ExxonMobil, Chevron, or BP suing people, and they don’t get sued all that often either. Where you do see them involved is in brand protection, which I’ve worked on before — because they have consumer products like gasoline and oil that are sold under longtime, protected brands. We’ve done some of that enforcement work for downstream companies over the years.
Greg Len (04:10):
Does that brand enforcement work include trademark litigation?
Charles Baker (04:11):
Yes, it’s mainly trademark and unfair competition. Not so much copyright, but primarily that, and to a certain extent covenants not to compete and other types of what I consider soft IP cases.
Greg Len (04:25):
And here at Troutman, do you work with people who actually prosecute and file trademarks for clients?
Charles Baker (04:31):
Yes, we have a very robust trademark prosecution and enforcement practice here. I would say we’ve got hundreds of people who focus exclusively on that work. In fact, I was just talking to one of my partners yesterday in our New York office. We have a client with some issues involving a trademark and an infringing website, and we talked through the options, gave the client some pricing, and they’re thinking it over right now.
Greg Len (05:01):
You mentioned the downstream oil refineries and petrochemical areas. What can you tell us about Troutman’s IP capabilities in the chemical and chemical engineering space?
Charles Baker (05:11):
Sure. Before the merger, we had some capability on the chemical side, and that’s where you really need it — because you’ve got these big refineries and other facilities taking raw oil and gas and making products from it. It’s very chemistry-heavy. We now have over 20 people who focus exclusively on that work. They’re chemical engineers with chemistry backgrounds who prosecute patents and handle other areas of IP. They also assist with joint venture agreements and other agreements that involve primarily chemical issues.
Greg Len (05:51):
Well, thank you, Charles. I want to thank you for taking the time to speak with us today, and I hope to get together again soon.
Charles Baker (05:53):
Great. Thank you, Greg.
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