uCloudlink to challenge Wi-Fi hotspot patent injunction
Hong Kong mobile data company uCloudlink has disputed the findings of a US court’s ruling in a patent infringement case, and says it will appeal the subsequent injunction.
In May this year, a jury at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York found that uCloudlink had willfully infringed a patent owned by its rival Skyroam, and awarded damages of just less than $2.2 million.
uCloudlink operates the GlocalMe service, which uses cloudSIM technology to provide Wi-Fi hotspots. The product allows customers to connect to the internet and avoid roaming charges when travelling.
According to the US court, the service infringed a Skyroam patent (US number 9,736,689) covering the company’s own virtual SIM technology, and awarded damages of $2.183 million for the period from August 13, 2018 to December 31, 2018.
The Hong Kong company has now said that it will appeal the verdict to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
According to a press release, uCloudlink has also updated its products in order to comply with the injunction issued by the court against the sale of infringing hotspot devices.
The company said it has released new versions of the software for its servers and devices.
“In order to prevent further disputes regarding infringement, uCloudlink will upgrade all portable Wi-Fi terminals in the United States with the new version of software released on or after June 1, 2019, and will upgrade all GlocalMe applications installed on World Phones in the United States to the new versions,” the company said.
Gao Wen, chief sales officer at uCloudlink, said that the injunction would have no “significant impact on our global operations”, while its impact in the US was “negligible”.
“After installing the May and subsequent software upgrades to our back-end server, portable Wi-Fi terminals and World Phones, we believe that we will be in full compliance with the [court’s] order in the United States, our devices will not infringe on the ‘689 patent going forward, and the injunction will no longer be relevant to uCloudlink’s business in the United States,” he said.
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