Equinor has gained a global licence agreement for the so-called Cap-X subsea suction anchor system after resolving a patent row with partly-owned technology developer Neodrill through an out-of-court settlement, writes Steve Marshall.
It follows an adverse Oslo court ruling last year in which the Norwegian state-controlled operator was ordered to pay Nkr40 million ($4.9 million) for a breach of marketing rules and infringement of patent rights in relation to its use of the well foundation system, which is similar to the CAN (Conductor Anchor Node) developed by Neodrill.
