Viasat fends off Sandisk patent lawsuit over in-flight entertainment systems

ViaSat

22/10/2025 16:46

By Blake Brittain

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Communications company Viasat VSAT.O convinced a California federal court to dismiss a lawsuit that accused its Wi-Fi and in-flight entertainment systems of infringing on tech company Sandisk's SNDK.O patents.

U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam ruled on Tuesday that Sandisk could not prove that Viasat's systems violate its patent rights in digital rights management and stream buffering technology. Gilliam also had harsh words for SanDisk, which it said had "wasted the parties' and the court's time and resources" by failing to dismiss a company subsidiary from the case.

Spokespeople and attorneys for Sandisk did not immediately respond on Wednesday to a request for comment. Viasat's attorney Patrick Curran of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan said the decision "confirms what Viasat maintained from the beginning of this case – that its products reflect Viasat’s own innovations."

Sandisk filed the lawsuit in 2022 as part of a broader patent dispute between the companies. Viasat accused Sandisk's former parent company Western Digital of infringing its computer-memory patents in 2021 in a separate Texas lawsuit that is ongoing.

Gilliam dismissed Sandisk's lawsuit against Viasat on Tuesday after finding that Viasat's systems worked differently from Sandisk's patented technology. The judge also criticized Sandisk for continuing to include a company subsidiary in the case, Sandisk Technologies LLC, that lacked rights in the patents at issue.

"Despite initially offering to dismiss SDT LLC from this case, Sandisk appears to have reneged on its offer after Viasat declined to agree not to further challenge the standing of other Sandisk entities," Gilliam said. "Sandisk’s proposed quid pro quo was unjustifiable."

Gilliam ordered Sandisk to explain why it should not be forced to cover Viasat's costs related to its challenges to SDT LLC's standing.

Viasat had earlier unsuccessfully attempted to disqualify Sandisk's law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher from representing Western Digital in the Texas case in 2023 based on an alleged conflict of interest.

The case is SanDisk3D IP Holdings Ltd v. Viasat Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 4:22-cv-04376.

For SanDisk: Kieran Kieckhefer, Robert Vincent and Brian Buroker of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher

For Viasat: Patrick Curran and Steve Cherny of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan

Read more:

Viasat sues Western Digital, Kioxia over data-storage patents

Viasat loses bid to disqualify law firm Gibson Dunn in Western Digital patent case

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)

((blake.brittain@tr.com; +1 (202) 938-5713))