It took jurors two whole weeks to return a $283 million verdict for ViaSat Inc. earlier this year in its lawsuit alleging a betrayal by fellow satellite technology company Space Systems/Loral. The lengthy deliberation didn’t do much good, though, according to a decision issued on Friday that pokes all sorts of holes in the jury’s damages calculation.
In a 21-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Huff in San Diego granted SSL’s lawyers at Susman Godfrey a new trial on damages, ruling that a do-over “is necessary to prevent a miscarriage of justice.” The judge didn’t vacate the jury’s underlying verdict that SSL is liable for breaching a contract with ViaSat and infringing its patents, however.
