U.S. Supreme Court Leaves In Place Unocal's Gasoline Patent
Mar 1 2001
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (March 2001) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has left in place a 1997 jury verdict ordering six of the world's largest oil companies to pay Unocal Corp. damages for infringing on its patent for cleaner-burning gasoline. Michael V. Ciresi, Martin R. Lueck, David W. Beehler and Tracy A. Sykes of the Minneapolis-based law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. represented Unocal during the trial and appellate process.
The Supreme Court announcement ends nearly six years of litigation initiated by five of the nation's largest oil companies who were attempting to overturn Unocal's "393" patent in the Federal court. The lengthy trial was centered around the "393" patent which was issued in 1994 and covers compositions of gasoline that oil companies have found advantageous to comply with clean air regulations. Unocal alleged and the jury found that from March until July 1996, the six oil companies sold 1.2 billion gallons of the cleaner gasoline using Unocal's patented compositions for reformulated gasoline. The case will now go back to the Central District of California for an accounting of additional infringement from August 1996 to the present.
Unocal said that utilizing the formulations in its cleaner burning gasoline patents can save refiners and consumers millions of dollars while improving air quality. The company also said that it is ready and willing to negotiate with refiners, blenders and importers on licensing agreements for its cleaner burning gasoline patents, and calls for all of the parties to sit down and negotiate fair and reasonable licensing agreements.
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