SmartSky prevailed in its patent infringement claims against Gogo, nearly four years after initially filing the case. The jury found in SmartSky’s favor, determining that four key patents are valid and that Gogo depends on them for its next generation Gogo 5G inflight internet service.
As SmartSky has long maintained and demonstrated in practice, its patented technology has now been proven, in court, as the key to unlock unlicensed spectrum for ATG use.
– Ryan Stone, SmartSky co-
founder
The ruling also carries a total financial penalty of $22.7 million. SmartSky indicated in a statement it intends to “seek enhanced damages based on the jury’s willfulness finding.” That could see the dollar amount increase.
For its part, Gogo issued a statement disagreeing with the verdict and promising an appeal on both the overall liability and the penalty amount. The company also asserts “it has no impact on our operations or the pending launch of our 5G service.”
Stopping that launch was a key goal of the suit when filed. Gogo managed to avoid a preliminary injunction in late 2022, however, allowing it to proceed with development of the program and deployment of the network.
While this is good news for SmartSky, it also does not change the fact that Gogo managed to draw things out long enough that SmartSky ran out of money trying to hit critical mass with its service and halted operations.
In a statement issued after the ruling SmartSky noted it “intends to seek enhanced damages based on the jury’s willfulness finding, as well as a running royalty for Gogo’s continuing infringements of two of the four patents in question. They remain in force until 2033 and 2035.
The ruling is also good news for Apcela, the company that bought out the decommissioned SmartSky network and brought it back online. The company noted on LinkedIn it holds a worldwide license to operate networks based on the SmartSky patents, “We are obviously pleased that the validity of these patents has been upheld, particularly relative to Gogo’s 5G plans.”
Apcela recently shared that the ATG network is full online in the US market. It reactivated all the previously installed aircraft and is working to secure additional customers.
Note: This story as been updated with additional comments from SmartSky.
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