- Parties: The appellants were Steelhead LNG (ASLNG) Ltd. and Steelhead LNG Limited (Partnership). The respondents were Arc Resources Ltd., Birchcliff Energy Ltd., Rockies LNG GP Corp., and Rockies LNG Limited Partnership. 

- Subject Matter: In 2023 FC 1684, the Federal Court concluded that all but five of the claims in Canadian Patent No. 3,027,085 were invalid, with 79 of 84 claims being obvious and 34 of 84 being anticipated by each of four pieces of prior art known as the Talib Papers and the Sullivan Presentations. 

- Ruling: The appeal court ruled in the respondents’ favour and dismissed the appeal. The appeal court refused to displace the Federal Court’s conclusion that there was nothing inventive in the patent’s impugned claims based on the state of the prior art and the facts of the case, given the standard of palpable and overriding error and the appellants’ failure to overcome it. The appeal court rejected the appellants’ argument that the Federal Court incorrectly lowered the bar for disclosure by equating disclosure of separate essential elements with that of the claim’s whole subject matter. The appeal court noted that the Federal Court explicitly and repeatedly stated that the claims’ subject matter was disclosed and enabled. 

- Date: The hearing was set on Dec. 11, 2024. The court released its decision on Dec. 11, 2024. 

- Venue: This was a federal case before the Federal Court of Appeal. 

- Amount: The appeal court awarded costs in an unspecified amount.