Case information

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(SEALING ORDER)

Intellectual property – Patents – Industrial design – Civil procedure – Costs – Patent and Design owner alleging that Patents and Design infringed by the manufacturing and sale of other oil field fluid containment products produced and sold by competitors in the market – Whether Federal Court of Appeal erred on issues of patent validity and infringement – Whether Federal Court of Appeal erred in costs award.

The respondent, Quinton Holtby, was the inventor of oil field fluid containment products and the owner of the 265, 064 and 375 Patents and the 793 Design, either personally or through his companies. Mr. Holtby controlled the respondent companies Zero Spill Systems (Int’l) Inc., Katch Kan Holdings Ltd. and Katch Kan Rentals Ltd. (collectively, “Zero Spill”). Zero Spill brought an infringement action against the defendants, 1284897 Alberta Ltd. (“Lea-Der”) and Bill Heide, doing business as Central Alberta Plastic Products and Rat Plastic Ltd. (collectively, “the Heide respondents”). The defendants were alleged to have infringed the 064 and 375 Patents by manufacturing and/or selling competing oil field fluid containment products. The Heide respondents were also alleged to have infringed the 793 Design. The products in dispute were all designed to capture fluids that either leaked or were spilled during oil field operations, particularly during pipe disconnection procedures. The Heide respondents produced upper and lower containment trays for use on well heads and drilling rigs. Lea-Der resold lines of upper and lower trays. The Heide respondents maintained that their products were non-infringing. The applicant, Lea-Der, asserted non-infringement and also claimed that the patents were invalid.