ViaSat awarded $ 283 million in lawsuit against Space System Loral

ViaSat announced that it was awarded $ 283 million in damages in a lawsuit against Space System Loral (SSL) concerning patent infringement and loss of contract. Loral Space & Communications Inc. has expressed its intention to appeal the judgment.

Space System Loral is a former subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications Inc, which was sold to MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) in 2012. It has been reported that under the terms of the purchase agreement Loral is obligated to indemnify SSL for damages in the case, after a final non-appealable judgment has been entered. However, Loral’s liability is limited to $200 million.

ViaSat’s lawsuit was filed in February 2012 and included total claims of $800 million. According to the lawsuit, SSL had undertaken to construct a high-throughput satellite for ViaSat and was given sensitive information by the latter to this end. However, SSL breached the confidentiality agreements and infringed ViaSat’s patents by selling a nearly identical satellite to ViaSat’s principal U.S. satellite-broadband competitor, Hughes Network Systems.

See more on the case here.