NEW ORLEANS — A court has denied a defendant's request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Cajun Services Unlimited LLC, et al, alleging breach of contract and other claims.
Cajun Services filed a complaint on June 7 in the The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Benton Energy Service Co., et al.
The court has ruled that motions for partial summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiff’s breach of contract claim, trade-secrets claims and patent-infringement claim are denied.
The defendant is an oilfield pipe running service company and the plaintiff had created and fabricated components of the defendant’s products. The plaintiffs claim they had created a tool and that the defendants had voiced interest in licensing the tool. The defendant began renting the tool system ERIS from the plaintiff on May 7, 2015, but there was never a discussion regarding the length or duration of rentals, the ruling indicates.
The plaintiff issued quotes to the defendant for rentals and a rental agreement included a disclaimer that “non-refutal of this quotation constitutes acceptance of quotation and all terms and conditions thereto.”
The defendant paid the first two project invoices in full and began to request that the plaintiff remove charges for certain rental days. The defendant argues that it only agreed to pay for whatever amounts it received from Anadarko but the plaintiff denies it agreed to such a statement.
In 2018, the defendant created its own tool system, which constituted an infringement of a patent. The plaintiff has agreed not to seek a preliminary injunction and the defendant has agreed that as long as the plaintiff does not seek out a preliminary injunction they will not use the system. The defendant has, however, created a similar system they are using.
The court denied motions for partial summary judgment to dismiss the plaintiff’s breach of contract claim, to dismiss plaintiff’s trade-secrets claims and to dismiss the plaintiff’s patent-infringement claim.
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Case No. is 2:17-cv-00491.