Houston, Texas – September 30, 2014 – A Texas federal judge has confirmed a jury’s finding that Eldridge has a valid patent on its ENJET™ engine exhaust system, which several defendants infringed through their use of a system installed at Jurong Shipyard in Singapore. The ENJET™ creates a high velocity exhaust stream to capture and expel noxious gases away from environments where people and equipment are in close proximity to the exhaust pipes of internal combustion engines.
On September 23, U.S. District Judge Michael Schneider in Tyler, Texas affirmed Eldridge’s patent infringement win over Jurong Shipyard and several major offshore drillers, including affiliates of Atwood and Seadrill, for using an infringing system in the Gulf of Mexico. He further issued a permanent injunction barring any of the defendants from bringing into the Gulf of Mexico in the future any rig containing the infringing exhaust system.
Eldridge filed its lawsuit in November 2011, accusing defendants of infringing Eldridge’s patented ENJET™ technology, US Patent No. 7,707,828. After defeating several attempts by the defendants to derail the case, Eldridge tried its case to a jury in Tyler, Texas in November 2013. The jury found for Eldridge on every issue, finding that the defendants had infringed the ENJET™ patent, that Jurong had induced the other defendants to infringe, and that the ENJET™ patent was valid over the prior art presented by the defendants. The jury further awarded the maximum amount of damages sought by Eldridge.
Following trial, the defendants asked Judge Schneider to set aside the jury’s decision and instead to rule in their favor. However, in his September 23 ruling, he declined to do so. Instead, he affirmed the jury’s verdict on infringement by all defendants and on the jury’s damages award to Eldridge of its lost profits on lost sales of its ENJET™ systems, which embody the patented technology. In fact, the Judge found that the defendants’ non-infringement argument was baseless.
Most importantly, Judge Schneider granted Eldridge’s request for a permanent injunction barring Jurong or any other defendant from bringing into the Gulf of Mexico (or any other USA controlled offshore waters) any offshore drilling rig, which uses the defendants’ infringing exhaust system. This is a major win for Eldridge, which validates its valuable patented technology and protects it from third parties trying to profit off of it.
Eldridge is represented in the lawsuit by R. Paul Yetter and Eric Chenoweth of Yetter Coleman LLP.
Joe Davis, Vice President and General Manager of Eldridge notes, “We are pleased with the Court’s ruling and remain committed to innovating and protecting our intellectual property, in the US and abroad. We hope that this decision will also discourage other offshore drillers from operating any rig that uses the infringing engine exhaust system.“
L.C. Eldridge Sales Co., Inc. pioneered the methods of ventilating mobile offshore drilling rigs. Based in Houston, Texas, Eldridge is now globally recognized as the leading authority in this specialized area of mobile offshore drilling unit ventilation. A majority of all the current worldwide fleets of deepwater drillships, semi-submersibles, and jack-ups have ventilation systems engineered, designed, and provided by Eldridge. Eldridge is managed by Gary Leseman, P.E., President, and Joe Davis, Vice President and General Manager.
Contact:
Joe Davis
9800 Richmond Ave, Suite 325
Houston, Texas, USA
77042
+1 713-780-7200
ENJET video: https://eldridgeusa.com/enjet-demo/
Additional images available upon request
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