Womble Carlyle Trial Team Led by Barry Herman Successfully Defends DynaEnergetics After Two-Year Legal Battle.

Womble Carlyle client DynaEnergetics US, Inc. won a complete victory in federal court Thursday in a long-running patent dispute with rival GEODynamics.

In 2015, GEODynamics sued DynaEnergetics and co-defendants Anderson Perforating Services, LLC (“API”), and Tong Petrotech, Inc. (“Tong”), for alleged infringement of a method patent for use of DynaEnergetics’ DPEX® shaped charges in oil and gas well perforations. The case was heard in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and after a four-day trial, the jury found in favor of DynaEnergetics, API and Tong on all counts, and also found that every asserted claim of the asserted patent is invalid. 

The Womble Carlyle trial team consisted of attorneys Barry Herman, Preston Heard, Christy Dupriest and Michael Nullet, paralegal Julie Giardina, and research analyst Katie Sprague. Attorneys Sarah Keefe and Will Hubbard also made significant contributions to the defense effort during the past two years. 

Lisa Moyles of Moyles & Tremblay Law, LLC, serves as patent prosecution counsel for DynaEnergetics, and Ms. Moyles was intimately involved in the litigation and provided invaluable strategic and substantive input.  Eric Findlay and Walter Lackey from Findlay Craft PC served as local counsel.  Jeffrey Johnson from Orrick also assisted in representing API and Tong.

Womble Carlyle lead attorney Barry Herman said, “This was a total team effort.  We could not have asked for a better or more knowledgeable adviser than Lisa, and winning the trial would not have been possible without Eric’s courtroom prowess and his team’s support.” 

In a statement, DynaEnergetics President Ian Grieves said, “We are encouraged the jury found DynaEnergetics and its customers have not infringed upon the 431 patent.  We are thrilled with Womble Carlyle’s representation and the efforts of the entire legal team.”

The victory is DynaEnergetics’ second in recent weeks, as the Eastern District of Texas recently ordered a stay in a separate patent infringement lawsuit involving a related GEODynamics patent. The parties agreed to a stay the district court action after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office instituted Inter Partes Review of the GEODynamics patent. 

DynaEnergetics is a business of publicly traded DMC Global Inc. (NASDAQ: BOOM).

Barry Herman is an intellectual property litigation partner working in Baltimore. He represents both domestic and foreign clients in a wide range of intellectual property matters, with an emphasis on patent litigation in district courts, the International Trade Commission, and the USPTO.

Preston Heard is an experienced intellectual property litigation attorney who has represented clients in U.S. District Court in numerous states, as well as before the International Trade Commission, and before the PTAB in post-grant proceedings. Preston’s practice is focused primarily on patent litigation and covers a broad range of technologies, including the mechanical, computer, and chemical arts.

Christy Dupriest focuses her practice on intellectual property and patent-related disputes for clients in a wide range of industries, including manufacturers and distributors of software, chemical, medical device and packaging products.

Michael Nullet is a registered patent attorney and focuses his practice on intellectual property and patent-related disputes. Before pursuing a legal career, Nullet worked for an IT startup that coordinated a multimillion- dollar autism research initiative across a dozen universities.

Sarah Keefe has more than 20 years experience in developing, clearing, registering and protecting trademarks and service marks. A significant portion of Sarah’s practice involves the handling of intellectual property disputes.

Will Hubbard advises clients on patent issues involving diverse technologies and represents clients in trademark and antitrust litigation. He also serves as an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore Law School.

About Womble Carlyle

Womble Carlyle is a 530-attorney law firm that corporate clients rely on to provide core legal services, such as Complex Business Litigation, Mass Torts, Intellectual Property, Corporate & Securities, Finance and Real Estate.

Our focus is the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Silicon Valley markets, and from this footprint, we serve clients in matters across the country and across the world. Clients trust us because we understand their businesses, focus on their successes, demonstrate a commitment to help, and deliver value for their dollars they spend on us. 

Womble Carlyle has a transatlantic alliance with leading U.K. firm Bond Dickinson to provide clients with domestic legal, regulatory and business advice in both the U.S. and U.K. Thanks to Womble Carlyle’s alliance with Lex Mundi, the world’s largest association of independent law firms, we also can offer clients access to quality-tested local counsel in more than 120 countries. Lex Mundi provides seamless access to local attorneys and market knowledge throughout the globe.