Courts reverse Navico-Garmin decision

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a December 2015 finding by the International Trade Commission that Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., had infringed Navico patents related to downscan sonar. Specifically, the Federal Circuit ruled that two of Navico’s patents were invalid and that Garmin’s DownVü sonar does not infringe a third Navico patent. Full report.

Statement issued by Navico on June 14, 2017:
“Obviously, we are disappointed in the appellate court’s decision following four rulings in Navico’s favor on this matter,” said Leif Ottosson, CEO, Navico. “As a result, we are analyzing this particular determination, and we are currently reviewing our options for moving forward.”

In the ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals determined that certain Navico patent claims are invalid. The court did not address infringement by Garmin. Prior to the appellate court’s reversal, the International Trade Commission recently ruled that Garmin’s products featuring “tilted” DownVü™ scanning sonar technology infringed Navico’s patents, and that Garmin violated the cease-and-desist orders issued in 2015, recommending a fine of $37 million.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection also ruled last week that Garmin’s “tilted” DownVü products infringed and were not admissible into the United States.