SmartSky, the company that launched an air-to-ground (ATG) airborne connectivity network in the U.S. to compete with Gogo, plans to evaluate options for relief after the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware set aside a $22.7 million past-damages award for Gogo’s infringement of SmartSky patents. The court also denied SmartSky’s requests for enhanced damages.
According to SmartSky, “The court upheld the jury’s findings that Gogo infringed four SmartSky patents and that the infringement was willful. Gogo failed in its attempts to invalidate SmartSky’s patents. The court also rejected Gogo’s inequitable conduct defense.”
With two key patents remaining in force until 2033 and 2035, SmartSky said it plans to “continue to protect that intellectual property. The rulings on infringement, willfulness, validity, and inequitable conduct reinforce SmartSky’s patent rights in important aspects of air-to-ground network technology, and SmartSky intends to pursue all appropriate avenues to protect those rights.”
The SmartSky ATG network shut down on Aug. 16, 2024, but has since been revived by Apcela, the company that built the network of ATG towers in the U.S. for SmartSky.
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