North American satellite operator ViaSat, best known for its satellite-delivered broadband services to American and Canadian users, hit satellite builders Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) with a writ back in February alleging violation of ViaSat’s patents. ViaSat is arguing that it supplied its design concepts to SS/L, and that SS/L then used the designs to win further business worth $1 billion or more since 2008.

Now SS/L has responded with a legal action of its own, rejecting ViaSat’s claims, and in the process arguing that ViaSat “even claims fundamental principles of physics as its own proprietary information.”  Moreover, SS/L, in its filing claims that at least three of its patents have been used without permission by ViaSat and embedded into ViaSat’s Surfbeam, Surfbeam 2, Linkstar Pro and Linkway ground antennas.

Space Systems/Loral, in its legal filing, says that back in October 2006 it made presentations to ViaSat and that the presentations were marked “proprietary to Loral” and that the presentations included many of the elements that ViaSat subsequently claims as its own.

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Categories: Articles, DTH/Satellite, Policy, Regulation