Court Says Unocal Didn’t Infringe Patent

Unocal Corp., mired in a patent battle with five of the world’s biggest oil companies over clean-burning fuel, did not steal the idea from a smaller company, a federal appeals court said.

El Segundo-based Unocal was accused of infringing a patent for clean-burning fuel owned by inventor William Talbert and his Talbert Fuel Systems Patents Co. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Tuesday upheld a lower court’s dismissal of the suit on grounds that Unocal’s technology has different characteristics.

Unocal shares fell 5 cents to $34.83 on the NYSE.