Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the U.S. District Court of Delaware’s decision to deny a motion by SmartSky Networks for a preliminary injunction to prevent Gogo Business Aviation from selling Gogo 5G air-to-ground connectivity.
According to Gogo, “The Delaware court found that SmartSky failed to establish that it is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims [or] suffer irreparable harm if a preliminary injunction is not granted. The reviewing court—the federal circuit—affirmed that decision.”
SmartSky holds that its patent infringement claims remain valid. “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.”
Gogo 5G, according to SmartSky, “is substantially similar to SmartSky’s air-to-ground network. Gogo’s actions are a clear, obvious, and willful infringement, even if the Gogo 5G network is still inactive as noted by the Court of Appeals.”
“The district court found that SmartSky failed to establish that it is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims, and we agree,” said Gogo CEO Oakleigh Thorne. “We will continue to vigorously defend Gogo against SmartSky’s patent infringement claims. We remain steadfast in our belief that we do not infringe upon the patents in question and expect to ultimately prevail.”