ION and WesternGeco end decade-long seismic tech clash

Seismic players ION Geophysical and WesternGeco have reached a settlement of the decade-long patent litigation regarding lateral streamer positioning.

The parties have signed a deal where WesternGeco will permanently dismiss the pending lawsuit, grant ION a license to the patents and lift the injunction preventing ION from manufacturing DigiFIN in the United States.

In exchange, ION agreed to pay a settlement value to WesternGeco out of future revenues from the company’s multi-client data library, comprising a small percent of 2D multi-client late sales for a 10-year period and transferring a majority of ION’s revenue share to WesternGeco on the parties’ existing joint multi-client reimaging product offshore Mexico.

The parties also agreed to expand the existing multi-client collaboration opportunities through new arrangements within specific geographies and product offerings.

“I am thrilled to put this lawsuit behind us,” said Chris Usher, ION’s president and CEO.

“The composition of our companies’ portfolios and the competitive landscape have changed dramatically over the timeline of this case. Both parties recognized that collaboration and risk-sharing make more sense going forward, rather than embarking on the new damages case ION was awarded late in 2019.”