TYLER - A federal district court jury in Tyler, Texas, has returned a $24 million verdict in favor of Houston-based Halliburton Energy Services in its lawsuit against Houston-based drill bit manufacturer Smith International, Inc., for infringement of three patents related to methods of designing roller cone drill bits used in oil and gas exploration.

Halliburton is a technological leader in the drill bit industry due in no small part to its innovative, forward thinking, says Halliburton lead trial attorney Eric Buether, a partner in the Dallas office of Godwin Gruber, LLP. This jury recognized Halliburton as the true inventor of these drill bit design methods, and the verdict should be viewed as a message that Halliburton will not sit by while its patents are being infringed by its competitors.

Halliburton filed the lawsuit in 2002, claiming that Smith International's IDEAS drill bit design process and drill bits made using that process infringe three Halliburton patents.  Halliburton's Security DBS uses the technology disclosed in those patents which enables roller cone drill bits to be designed to operate in a more balanced and efficient manner  in its Energy Balanced line of roller-cone bits.

The jury reached its verdict against Smith International late Friday, June 25, in the courtroom of Hon. Judge Leonard E. Davis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The decision by the 8-woman jury followed four days of testimony.  The jury found all three patents valid and that Smith International willfully infringed each of the patents.

Members of the Halliburton trial team included Eric Buether, Todd Landis, Chris Joe, Eric Tautfest, Patrick Farley and David Patterson, all of Godwin Gruber, LLP, and Mike Jones of the Tyler law firm of Potter Minton, P.C.

Godwin Gruber represents Fortune 500 and middle-market industry leaders in Mission Critical Litigation® in Texasand throughout the U.S.  Potter Minton represents clients in complex commercial litigation throughout Texas.