Kobold Successfully Defends Against NCS In Patent Infringement Lawsuit and Wins Counterclaim

November 8, 2023

For Immediate Press Release

Kobold Corporation and Kobold Completions Inc. (“Kobold”) announce that in a ruling issued by the Federal Court of Canada yesterday in relation to a patent infringement lawsuit brought by NCS Multistage Inc. (“NCS”) against Kobold, the Court ruled that Kobold was entirely successful in its defence and counterclaim.

In a case that the trial judge agreed is “perhaps the most complex intellectual property matter before the Federal Court”, the court invalidated all the asserted claims in five of NCS’s tool and sleeve shifting patents. NCS’s Canadian Patent Nos. 2,693,676; 2,820,652; 2,738,907; and 2,766,026 were declared invalid for being non-inventive and obvious. Canadian Patent No. 2,820,704 was declared invalid for being overbroad. The Court also declared that Kobold does not infringe any of these patents.

With respect to Kobold’s counterclaim, the Court ruled that the asserted claims of Kobold’s 3,027,571 Patent are valid and are infringed by certain of NCS’s LP3 Sleeves. The Court granted an injunction against NCS prohibiting further use, manufacture, and sale of NCS’s LP3 sleeves in Canada. NCS has also been ordered to pay Kobold either damages or NCS’s profits in respect of the infringement in an amount to be determined.

Kobold is extremely pleased with this decision. It is an unqualified victory that exonerates Kobold from the claims made against it by NCS and is a vindication of Kobold’s innovative technology.

About Kobold

Located in Calgary, Alberta, Kobold has been in business for over 16 years developing and delivering cutting-edge downhole tool technology and services for drilling and completions in the oil and gas industry. Kobold’s specialization is coil-conveyed technology for well completions, with leading-edge innovation on the horizon.

Information on Kobold’s products can be obtained by visiting Kobold’s website: www.koboldinc.com

For further information on the above please contact: secretary@koboldinc.com

Machine Learning Methodology Leverages Kobold Guidehawk and Echo Data

September 13, 2023

Kobold recently participated in a study on XGSleeve, a cutting-edge machine learning (ML) methodology that leverages Kobold’s Guidehawk and Echo downhole data analysis to improve the detection of sliding sleeves opening during downhole operations.

XGSleeve collects and processes Guidehawk and Echo data onsite and applies machine learning to provide real-time reporting of positive sleeve shifts, demonstrating a robust 86% precision in detecting the opening of sleeves. By increasing the certainty of sleeve shifts, this innovative approach can significantly improve the completion process, leading to reduced time on location, increased productivity, and lower costs and environmental impact. The study demonstrates the potential for data-driven decision-making and broader integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning in oil and gas operations.

The study was funded by Kobold and Alberta Innovates and lead by machine learning experts from the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. This study is part of a larger Kobold project to improve completion data collection and analysis.

More information about this study can be found on the Frontiers website, one of the world’s largest academic publishers of peer-driven and reviewed research articles focusing on technology and artificial intelligence.

Frontiers | XGSleeve: detecting sleeve incidents in well completion by using XGBoost classifier (frontiersin.org)

Kobold to Supply Tracerco’s Tracer Technology Across Western Canada

July 25, 2023

Kobold has confirmed an agreement with Tracerco, a leading industrial technology specialist, to supply Tracerco’s proprietary water, oil and gas tracer technology to customers to further enhance their reservoir development and production optimization strategies.

The deployment of chemical tracer technology and measurement capabilities together with advanced completions systems provides critical fluid flow information, accurately measuring water, oil and gas flow enabling oil and gas companies to detect the presence of mechanical flow restrictions and, during well intervention, that effective water or gas shut-off has been accomplished from targeted zones. In addition, the technology provides intelligence on oil, gas and water stage flow into and between wells that when correlated with geology, drilling and completions design, allows customers to optimize future well development.

Speaking about Kobold’s collaboration with Tracerco, Mark Andreychuk, President of Kobold Completions Inc. commented, “Kobold is pleased to partner with Tracerco to offer a comprehensive array of tracer technologies and services to oil and gas companies across Western Canada. Pinpoint phase flow information combined with surgical flow control capability is key in optimizing production economics. We are very pleased with our new partnership and ability to participate in solving these types of problems.”

New Kobold Facility Opens in Virden, MB

June 15, 2023

Kobold is expanding its footprint across Canada with the opening of the our new satellite office and shop facility in Virden, Manitoba. This location is equipped with a full suite of tools, equipment and parts, as well as trailers ready to be deployed at any time. Dedicated onsite field operations staff allows Kobold to provide a new level of support for our customers in the region.