Auto-Dril has filed a claim in a Texas court against National Oilwell Varco and five other drillers for alleged infringement of its US Patent No.6,994,172 for a well drilling control system.
Auto-Dril claims that, inter alia, NOV’s e-Wildcat electronic autodrilling system infringes on the patent and has ‘actively promoted’ sales and use by third parties of its automatic drilling control systems.
Auto-Dril’s patent covers a ‘system for regulating the release of a drill string of drilling rig during the drilling of a borehole’ leveraging a bit weight and programmable controller of the rig’s variable drive electric motor and drill stem brake. Other defendants include Canrig Drilling, Omron and Pason Systems.
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