Patent Infringement Claims Bogged Down in Procedural Morass

The Fifth Circuit didn’t have jurisdiction to hear a counterclaim by Auto-Dril Inc. that it was fraudulently induced to settle with National Oilwell Varco LP in a patent infringement dispute.

Auto-Dril’s fraud claim was a tort claim that fell outside the jurisdiction that the district court retained to interpret and enforce the settlement agreement, the opinion by Judge Carolyn Dineen King said May 12.

After NOV sued Auto-Dril in 2009 for infringing its patent in an oil drill bit, and the parties settled the case in 2011.

In 2015, Auto-Dril sued NOV in another federal court in Texas, asserting a ...