Oceanteam settles IP suit out of court

Written by Nick Blenkey
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Oceantean North River pipelay vessel

FEBRUARY 15, 2016 — Norwegian operator Oceanteam reports that it has reached an out of court settlement over an intellectual property infringement case that it filed against ship design specialist Sawicon AS in 2011 in relation to the Oceanteam ASA – North Ocean pipelay vessel series.

The terms of the settlement are to remain confidential, but the company emphasizes that the settlement will have no negative effect on its results, operations and developments going forward.

“We are very pleased with this settlement and that the company can finally close this case,” says CEO Haico Halbesma. “After five years in the Norwegian courts, the case status was at a point where there were still no final conclusions made on the subject matter of the case. Considering the different priorities of the company, we are pleased to now fully focus on providing offshore solutions.”

Oceanteam says it is considering taking further legal action against former board member and shareholder Aksel M. Okland of North Sea Shipping: “This for the alleged misuse of the company’s intellectual property, trade secrets and such for own interest, and allegedly having a conflict of interest while serving as a board member of the company and the misuse of the board’s position and powers in the period 2006 and 2010. During this period important issues relating to this case occurred and were his responsibility while serving as a board member.”

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