Delta Air Lines seeks to end Virgin's suit over seats

Delta Air Lines Inc., the world's second-biggest carrier, asked a U.K. judge to rule that flat-bed seats in its premium cabins don't violate a patent held by Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd.

Delta doesn't infringe the patent and needs certainty on the issue before the disputed Solar Eclipse seating system can be added to a planned $47.8 million retrofit of 32 aircraft in 2013, said Mark Vanhegan, the carrier's lawyer with the firm 11 South Square, at the High Court in London Wednesday.

Delta, which has a major hub in the Twin Cities, is reluctant to place an order with the seat maker "whilst there's a threat of potential contempt over Delta's head," Vanhegan said. "That's not a conducive atmosphere in which to do business."

Providing comfortable reclining seats, at competitive prices, on long-haul routes can play a vital part in the success of an airline, according to a judgment last year in a related lawsuit by Virgin. When Crawley, England-based Virgin introduced its flat-bed seats in November 2003 it increased its market share on long-haul routes by 12 percent, it said.

Justice Richard Arnold didn't make a ruling at the end of the hearing.

Virgin, the long-haul carrier controlled by billionaire Richard Branson, sued Atlanta-based Delta in 2008 over claims that its seats, designed by Premium Aircraft Interiors Group Ltd., infringed Virgin's patent. Virgin in October 2009 won a patent lawsuit accusing Premium, a U.K. maker and designer of airplane cabins, of infringing the same patent.

The case is Virgin Atlantic Airways v. Delta Air Lines, Case No. HC08C1577, High Court of Justice Chancery Division.