SmartSky Networks’ legal effort to stop Gogo Business Aviation from making, using and selling Gogo 5G whilst its patent infringement case against the inflight connectivity provider awaits trial was rejected this week, as the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed an earlier Delaware District Court decision to deny SmartSky’s motion for a preliminary injunction against Gogo.
Both Gogo and SmartSky provide air-to-ground (ATG) cell tower-based inflight connectivity to business aircraft operators in CONUS, with incumbent Gogo’s coverage extending to Canada. SmartSky claims that after years of trying to acquire more licensed spectrum, Gogo in 2016 abruptly changed course and copied SmartSky’s approach of using unlicensed spectrum to launch Gogo 5G. It alleges that Gogo’s forthcoming 5G IFC product treads on several of its patents, causing irreparable harm.
“[W]e conclude that the District Court did not abuse its discretion in finding that SmartSky has failed to satisfy its burden to establish a likelihood of irreparable harm. We have considered SmartSky’s remaining arguments and find them unpersuasive,” the Federal Circuit said in its 31 January ruling affirming the District Court’s decision. “For these reasons, we affirm the District Court’s denial of SmartSky’s motion for preliminary injunction.”
Though SmartSky failed to convince the courts to issue a preliminary injunction to stop Gogo from selling 5G, the Morrisville, North Carolina-based company is looking ahead to its broader patent infringement lawsuit against Gogo, which will go to trial in April 2025.
“SmartSky is confident in the case and is enthusiastically looking forward to the trial proceeding on schedule,” a SmartSky spokesman told RGN.
The company has long acknowledged that obtaining a preliminary injunction against Gogo in advance of the trial was a bit of a long shot. It noted yesterday that the appellate decision was based solely on the issue of irreparable harm “and did not address any of SmartSky’s patent infringement claims at this preliminary stage of the case”.
Following the Federal Circuit decision, Gogo CEO Oakleigh Thorne assured the market that the publicly-traded firm will “continue to vigorously defend Gogo against SmartSky’s patent infringement claims”.
He added: “We remain steadfast in our belief that we do not infringe upon the patents in question and expect to ultimately prevail. We remain focused on successfully launching Gogo 5G and delivering improved performance for our business aviation customers in 2024 and beyond.”
Challenged by a chip design snag, the Gogo 5G program is, however, grappling with delays. Gogo said late last year that it expects to start shipping the product to North American clients in the third quarter of 2024, pending resolution of the problem.
It is not immediately clear if Gogo is still eyeing 3Q shipments for the 5G inflight connectivity hardware. A Gogo spokesman did not address RGN’s request for an update.
The 5G program delay may have factored into the Federal Circuit’s decision. “We find SmartSky’s lost sales arguments unpersuasive as to Gogo’s 5G network. SmartSky itself concedes that Gogo’s 5G network has not been released,” stated the court in its decision.
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Featured image credited to istock.com/Ryan Fletcher
