Proppant Express Investments (PropX) announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the decision of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas that PropX did not infringe on any of the patents asserted by SandBox Logistics LLC in a 2017 lawsuit.
SandBox is a subsidiary of U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc.
“The decision of the appellate court affirming the trial court’s ruling again confirms our position that PropX equipment and technology do not and at no time have ever infringed upon SandBox’s intellectual property,” said Kevin Fisher, chief executive officer of PropX. “Combined with rulings by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office which have invalidated a plethora of SandBox patent claims, we are confident that our unique, efficient and market leading technology will remain at the forefront of sand logistics technology for the energy industry. We are pleased that the appellate court affirmed the trial court’s ruling.”
The appellate case citation for the appeal is Sandbox Logistics LLC, et. al. v. Proppant Express Investments, LLC, et. al., No. 2019-1684, 2020 U.S. App. (Fed.Cir., May 18, 2020).
For the related District Court opinion see Sandbox Logistics LLC v. Grit Energy Sols. LLC, Nos. 3:16-CV-12, 4:17-CV-589, 2018 WL 3344773 at 2-17(S.D. Tex. July 9, 2018).