US technology firm Ambit Corp has agreed to pay a financial settlement to Aircell and refrain from pursuing further litigation against the firm or any of its customers in relation to Aircell's Gogo in-flight Internet system, under an agreement reached between the two companies.
The settlement agreement follows a month-long trial in Massachusetts district court concerning Ambit's allegations that one of its patents was infringed by Aircell's Gogo system.
At the conclusion of the trial, a jury unanimously ruled in Aircell's favour, finding that Ambit failed to prove that any of the patent claims at issue are infringed by Aircell and, in addition, that Aircell successfully proved that all such patent claims are invalid.
Gogo customer Delta Air Lines, which had been named a defendant in Ambit's case, was dismissed from proceedings at the end of July.
"Pursuant to the settlement agreement, Ambit paid a monetary sum to Aircell and agreed that it will not in the future sue Aircell or any of its customers with respect to Aircell's Gogo [commercial service] or Gogo Biz [business jet] service or any other Aircell technology related to in-flight communication or entertainment," says Aircell in a statement.
"The parties agreed to dismiss all remaining claims and counterclaims between them," adds Aircell.
Aircell did not disclose the amount of the financial settlement. Ambit could not be immediately reached for comment.
Over the past year, Aircell has steadily increased the daily number of aircraft deployed with Gogo, and today is providing service on nearly 1,000 commercial aircraft, with commitments from a total of nine airlines, including AirTran Airways, American Airlines, Delta and Virgin Atlantic.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
