a special supplement to ACC Docket
sponsored by Norton Rose Fulbright LLP
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Jan/Feb 2014 Canadian Briefings

Drafts due by Oct. 18th

1 Avoiding Intellectual Property Pitfalls in the Oil and Gas Industry Mark Sajewycz

6 Pharma in Brief — USTR Slams Canada Over the Treatment of Pharmaceutical Patents Patrick E. Kierans

Avoiding Intellectual Property
Pitfalls in the Oil and Gas Industry

Mark Sajewycz ( mark.sajewycz@nortonrosefulbright.com), Norton Rose Fulbright

Intellectual property in the oil and
gas industry

Whether it involves conventional or unconventional resources, participants in the oil and gas value chain are innovating to overcome technological challenges and improve competitiveness. Constantly, more efficient methodologies or tools are being developed to: extract ever-depleting conventional resources; challenge conventional wisdom and potentially replace existing oil sands extraction approaches; or more efficiently process and upgrade heavy hydrocarbons, after recovery. Ingrained within this culture of innovation is the oil and gas ecosystem, which combines a spirit of entrepreneurship and a “get-it-done attitude” with the opportunity to participate in a booming energy economy.

The existence of a legal framework,
to govern intellectual property rights,
is widely recognized and appreciated
in the oil and gas space. However,
because of the relatively non-intuitive
regulatory schemes relating to creation
and ownership of intellectual property
rights, commercialization opportuni-
ties can easily be missed in a fast-paced
entrepreneurial environment built on
personal relationships and fierce but
friendly dealmaking.

This article highlights potential pitfalls for an oil and gas technology company — which could cause the discounting or loss of available intellectual property — and suggests ways at circumnavigating these pitfalls.

Field testing of unproven technology There are at least two key issues that every oil and gas technology business should be mindful of when field testing unproven technology: consequences of public disclosure and ownership of improvements that derive from the testing.