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Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

Note 8.  Commitments and Contingencies



Litigation



In the ordinary course of our business, from time to time, we have various claims, lawsuits and administrative proceedings that are pending or threatened with respect to commercial, intellectual property and employee matters.



On July 24, 2018, we filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Kobold Corporation, Kobold Completions Inc. and 2039974 Alberta Ltd. (“Kobold”) in the Federal Court of Canada, alleging that Kobold’s fracturing tools and methods infringe on several of our Canadian patents. We previously filed a breach of contract lawsuit on March 16, 2018, against Kobold Corporation in the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, alleging breach of a prior settlement agreement. Both of these lawsuits seek unspecified monetary damages and injunctive relief. On July 12, 2019, Kobold filed a counterclaim seeking unspecified damages alleging that our fracturing tools and methods infringe on their patent and that we made false and misleading statements about Kobold. 



On April 3, 2020, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division (“District Court”) issued a final judgment in connection with the litigation with Diamondback Industries, Inc (“Diamondback”) awarding Repeat Precision approximately $39.9 million plus attorneys’ fees in connection with its breach of exclusive license, patent infringement and tortious interference claims. In its ruling, the District Court validated the terms of Repeat Precision’s exclusive license agreement with respect to the setting tool technology practicing U.S. Patent No. 9,810,035 and enjoined Diamondback from selling its infringing SS line of setting tools. As the judgment remains subject to appeal, and any monetary award subject to collection, we have not recorded any amount in our condensed consolidated financial statements related to this gain contingency as of March 31, 2020. In addition, on April 21, 2020, Diamondback filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. We also received $1.1 million of proceeds from our directors and officers liability insurance in April 2020 related to the reimbursement of legal expenses that we incurred to defend a director and officer in the Diamondback litigation.



In accordance with GAAP, we accrue for contingencies where the occurrence of a material loss is probable and can be reasonably estimated, based on our estimate of the expected liability. If we have any outstanding legal accruals, we may increase or decrease these in the future, on a matter-by-matter basis, to account for developments. Our assessment of the likely outcome of litigation matters is based on our judgment of a number of factors, including experience with similar matters, past history, precedents, relevant financial information and other evidence and facts specific to the matter. While the outcome of any legal proceeding cannot be predicted with any certainty, based on a consideration of relevant facts and circumstances, our management currently does not expect that the results of these legal proceedings would have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.