Magseis Fairfield defeats Seabed Geosolutions in patent challenge case

Norwegian Magseis Fairfield, a provider of ocean bottom seismic systems and services, has defeated a patent challenge brought on by its rival Seabed Geosolutions. 

On January 14, 2019, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent Office denied a petition for inter partes review challenging the validity of U.S. Patent No. 9,829,589 (the ’589 Patent) that had been brought by Seabed Geosolutions, Magseis informed in an Oslo Stock Exchange filing on Friday, January 25.

Magseis Fairfield is asserting that Seabed’s Manta system infringes the ‘589 Patent in a case brought in the Southern District of Texas.

Seabed’s Manta is an enhancing ocean bottom node (OBN) technology, which was designed to meet the demands of all survey configurations to 3000 meters. It is a single four-component (4-C) ocean bottom node technology.

Magseis concluded: “While the Court has stayed the District Court proceeding pending the Patent Office’s review of three other asserted patents that Seabed has challenged, Magseis Fairfield remains confident in the validity of its patents and expects that it will proceed with its infringement claims against Seabed once the pending proceedings before the U.S. Patent Office are complete.”