Patent Law and the Materiality of Inventions in the California Oil Industry: The Story of Halliburton v. Walker, 1935–1946

Gerardo Con Díaz

doi:10.1017/eso.2021.28

Abstract

This article examines a patenting conflict between the Halliburton Oil Well and Cementing Company and an independent inventor named Cranford Walker. It argues that Halliburton’s effort to lower the barriers to entry into the oil well depth measurement industry facilitated the re-emergence of materiality as a pre-condition for the patent eligibility of inventive processes. In 1941, Walker sued Halliburton for infringement of three of his patents, and Halliburton responded with an aggressive defense aimed at invalidating them. Over the next five years, the courts handling this conflict adopted very narrow legal theories developed during the Second Industrial Revolution to assess the patent eligibility of inventions that involved mental steps—processes such as mathematical computations, which people can perform in their minds. The resulting legal precedent cleared the path for Halliburton’s short-term industrial goals and continued to shape patent law for the rest of the century.

Highlights

This article examines a patenting conflict between the Halliburton Oil Well and Cementing Company and an independent inventor named Cranford Walker
In 1941, as World War II increased the global demand for oil products, a self-employed engineer named Cranford Perry Walker filed a lawsuit against the Halliburton Oil Well and Cementing Company
As this conflict is often cited, invites the study of intellectual property (IP) law to inquire into the history of the oil industry

Summary

CON DÍAZ

Often firmly grounded on business history, their work has demonstrated how legal doctrine and practice have been inseparable from each industry’s rapidly changing dynamics, generating new ways of placing technological and commercial development within their broader legal and regulatory contexts. This line of inquiry is especially compatible with the history of American oil, wherein the sociolegal and political frameworks that have governed the industry at the local and transnational levels have long been central themes.. This text has remained relatively unchanged for decades, though its meaning, applicability, and limitations have changed over time thanks to the accumulation of court opinions and procedures at the Patent Office and its successor, the Patent and Trademark Office. 35 USC §101

A note on sources

Conclusion

Bibliography of Work Cited