ProFrac unit defeats Halliburton patent lawsuit over electric fracking tech at trial

Aug 24 (Reuters) – Halliburton (HAL.N) failed to convince a U.S. federal jury on Thursday that a unit of rival oilfield services company ProFrac (ACDC.O) infringed its electric-fracking patents.

The jury in Waco, Texas, agreed with ProFrac’s U.S. Well Services that the company’s “Clean Fleet” technology did not work in the same way as Halliburton’s patented technology for electric fracking, or “e-frac,” which has a smaller carbon footprint than traditional fracking.

The jury also determined that two of the three Halliburton patents at issue were invalid.

Halliburton attorney Roger Fulghum said that the company was disappointed with the verdict and considering its appeal options.

U.S. Well Services attorney Tom Melsheimer said the jury recognized that the company “did things our way and didn’t need any Halliburton technology.”

E-frac uses electricity from natural gas or power grids to drive pumps instead of diesel fuel. Oil and gas companies have been adopting the technology in efforts to reduce the carbon emissions created by fracking.

Halliburton countersued U.S. Well Services in response to a patent lawsuit that it brought in 2021 over Halliburton’s e-frac fleet. U.S. Well Services’ patents from that case have since been declared invalid by the Waco court and a U.S. Patent Office tribunal.

Halliburton has also filed two other e-frac patent lawsuits against U.S. Well Services in Waco that are scheduled for trial next year.

ProFrac, a Willow Park, Texas-based oilfield services company backed by billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks, bought Houston-based U.S. Well Services last year.

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