EXHIBIT A 

Case 6:20-cv-00277-ADA Document 24-1 Filed 07/31/20 Page 1 of 5
US 7284831

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

WACO DIVISION

NCS MULTISTAGE INC.,

Plaintiff,

v.

NINE ENERGY SERVICE, INC.,

Defendant.

CIVIL ACTION NO. 6:20-CV-00277

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

DECLARATION OF ANITA KERIN

I, Anita Kerin, do hereby declare and state as follows:

1. My date of birth is February 8, 1979. 

2. I am a resident of Houston, Texas.

3. I maintain my office at 2001 Kirby Drive Suite 200, Houston, Texas 77019.

4. I am Assistant General Counsel at Nine Energy Service, Inc (“Nine”). 

5. I have personal knowledge of the matters set forth in this declaration, and if called 

upon as a witness, I could and would testify competently. I submit this declaration in support of 

Nine’s Motion to Transfer Venue. 

6. Nine is a completions company that targets unconventional oil and gas resource 

development across all North American basins and abroad.

7. Nine is a corporation organized under the laws of Delaware and its worldwide 

headquarters is located at 2001 Kirby Drive Suite 200, Houston, Texas 77019. 

8. Nine has approximately 672 employees, approximately 36 of which are located in 

the Houston headquarters. Many of these employees are senior employees and officers of the 

company, including the Chief Executive, Finance, and Accounting Officers, the General Counsel, 

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HR Director, and Nine’s tax and accounting employees. Additionally, Nine employs 

approximately 44 employees in Corpus Christi, Texas. 

9. I understand that NCS Multistage, Inc. has accused the BreakThruTM Casing 

Flotation Device (the “BreakThruTM Device”) of infringing its patent.

10. All technical, sales, and financial information related to the BreakThruTM Device 

are available at Nine’s headquarters in Houston, Texas, or at Nine’s Norwegian offices.

11. Nine maintains facilities in Midland, TX at 12914 W. Co. Road 91, Midland TX 

79707; 551 State Street, Midland, TX 79703; and 9319 W. IH-20, Midland, TX 79706. Nine 

maintains facilities in Monahans, TX at 1101 South Loop Road 464, Monahans, TX. Nine 

maintains facilities in Pleasanton, TX, at 496 Shale Road, Pleasanton, TX 78064.

12. Nine’s facilities in Monahans and Pleasanton do not manufacture, sell, or distribute 

the BreakThruTM Device, and therefore likely do not have any documentary or physical evidence. 

13. Nine has approximately 102 employees in its Midland facilities, none of which are 

senior engineering or technical employees involved with the BreakThruTM Device. Most of the 

Nine employees in Midland are associated with field operations related to our wireline and 

cementing businesses, which are not at issue in this case.

14. There is not, to my knowledge, substantial evidence related to the manufacture, use, 

and sale of the BreakThruTM Device in the Midland office that is not equally available at Nine’s 

corporate headquarters in Houston.

15. The senior technical and engineering staff for the BreakThruTM Devices are at

Nine’s Norwegian facilities, located at Elvavagen 1 Inngang, 1A 5265 Ytre Arna, near Bergen, 

Norway.

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16. The Texas regional sales manager and controller responsible for the BreakThruTM 

Devices are based in Houston, TX and Corpus Christi, TX respectively.

17. The Texas market is approximately 22% of BreakThruTM Devices sold. The other 

78% are sold outside of Texas, mostly in the northeastern United States and Canada.

18. For the Texas market, components of the BreakThruTM Devices are manufactured 

at Nine’s Norwegian facilities, by OFS International LLC (“OFS”), a non-party, in Houston, 

Texas, and at Nine’s facilities in Corpus Christi, TX. OFS’s manufacturing facility located at 7735 

Miller Road, Houston, TX 77049. Nine’s facility in Corpus Christi is located at 5655 Bear Lane, 

Suite 100, Corpus Christi, Texas 78505.

19. Components for BreakThruTM Devices for other markets are manufactured at 

Nine’s facilities in Marietta, OH and Red Deer, AB. 

20. Nine sells the BreakThruTM Device to customers in the Southern District of Texas.

About 47% of our customers have their corporate headquarters in Houston.

21. Nine has identified several employees that may be called at trial that live in Houston 

or frequently travel to the Nine headquarters in Houston. None reside in the Western District of 

Texas. They include:

Name Title Role Residence

Don McLean Regional Sales 

Manager

Texas Sales Manager for 

BreakThruTM Device

Houston, TX

Stephanie Sloma Completion Tools 

Controller

Controller for BreakThruTM Device Corpus 

Christi, TX

Viggo Brandsdal Principal Engineer, 

Nine Norway

Inventor of the BreakThruTM 

Device

Bergen, NO

Geir Valestrand Senior Engineer, Nine 

Norway

Inventor of the BreakThruTM 

Device

Bergen, NO

Nick Pottmeyer President, 

Completion Tools

President of business unit that 

operates the BreakThruTM Device

Marietta, OH

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22. Nine’s senior employees, including those listed above, who do not reside in 

Houston frequently travel to Nine Energy’s headquarters in Houston.

23. Nine does not maintain any facilities in the Waco Division of the Western District 

of Texas.

24. None of Nine’s senior employees or officers reside in the Western District of Texas.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the 

foregoing is true and correct. 

Executed in Harris County, State of Texas, on the 31th day of July, 2020.

 

Anita Kerin

Nine Energy Service, Inc.

2001 Kirby Drive Suite 200

Houston, Texas 77019

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