Texas Lawyer spotlights the litigation tactics behind Impulse Downhole Solutions’ win in a patent infringement suit against competitor Downhole Well Solutions, noting an “unprecedented” 11 summary-judgment and Daubert motions—all denied—that shaped the case long before trial. A Sheppard trial team used metadata to suggest Downhole Well Solutions altered key spreadsheets and used 3-D models and live equipment demonstrations to demystify complex drilling concepts for jurors. After only 2.5 hours of deliberation, the jury unanimously found willful infringement of three patents by the PowerGLIDE product line.
“I think a big part of this trial was the credibility of the two sides,” said John Keville, lead trial counsel for Impulse. “Our witnesses were extremely credible. They just answered questions, and their witnesses took some very indefensible positions.”
When questioning the defendant’s witnesses, Keville noted, “We said, ‘Well, where’s the math behind the data?’ And they didn’t have it.”
Along with Keville, the Sheppard trial team included Michelle Replogle, Robert Green, Michael Krill, Michael Heins, Chante Westmoreland, Usayd Siddiqi and Evan Lim.