PUTRAJAYA, Kingtime International Ltd has won its appeal against Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd in a patent dispute involving the use of a mobile offshore production unit (Mopu), overturning a 2023 High Court ruling that had dismissed its claim.
A mobile offshore production unit is a converted offshore oil rig used for oil and gas production.
The Court of Appeal not only reinstated Kingtime’s infringement suit but also struck out Petronas Carigali’s counterclaim seeking to invalidate two of Kingtime’s patents.
Justice Faizah Jamaludin, delivering the unanimous decision, said Petronas Carigali was bound by a 2018 High Court judgment which found that Petrofac E&C Sdn Bhd — the contractor that built the Mopu — had infringed Kingtime’s patents and failed to invalidate them. She stressed that Petronas Carigali, which had commissioned Petrofac for the Sepat oil field project about 200km off Kuala Terengganu, could not relitigate the matter. “The High Court erred in dismissing Kingtime’s suit and in allowing Petronas Carigali’s invalidation action. This warrants appellate intervention,” she said.
The appellate bench, chaired by Justice Lee Swee Seng with Justices Faizah Jamaludin and Choo Ka Sing, sent the case back to the High Court for damages assessment. Petronas Carigali was ordered to pay Kingtime RM950,000 in legal costs and refund RM800,000 previously paid following the 2023 High Court decision.
Kingtime first sued Petronas Carigali in 2018, alleging that its use of the Sepat Mopu built by Petrofac infringed its patents. Petronas Carigali later filed a separate suit to invalidate the patents, which the High Court had allowed before today’s reversal. Kingtime was represented by a team of seven lawyers, while Petronas Carigali was represented by senior counsel Cyrus Das and his team.
