Federal Circuit Upholds Denial of Injunction Against Gogo's 5G Service

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a lower court's denial of a preliminary injunction against Gogo in a patent infringement suit. In a docket 23-1058 decision Wednesday by Judges Raymond Chen, Todd Hughes and Tiffany Cunningham, and penned by Cunningham, the panel said plaintiff-appellant SmartSky Networks didn't meet the burden of establishing irreparable harm if not given an injunction stopping Gogo from selling its 5G aviation connectivity service. SmartSky said the 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." It said a preliminary injunction would have been "an extraordinary measure" and they are rarely granted. It said it was "compelled to seek such extraordinary relief given Gogo’s egregious infringement."