Vonage and Nortel End Skirmish Over Patents
259982
The companies will each license three patents to the other, resolving a rift that had threatened to shut down some Vonage calling features.
11498
Promises to side-step its way out, again VoIP provider Vonage has lost another patent battle, this time with Sprint Nextel, which owns six infringed patents and stands to gain almost $70m in a court-ordered payout.â¦
337962
Vonage downplays an appeals court decision affirming an earlier verdict of patent infringement on two patents owned by Verizon.
119953
Internet phone company Vonage loses a patent case that could threaten its business.
406900
Net phone company says it didn't copy Verizon's patents, but the telecommunications giant says harm has been done and its VoIP rival must pay.
258052
Annus horribilis ends with Nortel agreement Vonage and Nortel have agreed to settle their patent differences with an exchange of licenses, and no money changing hands, ending a year of litigation for Vonage and clearing the decks before 2008.â¦
168155
Settlement is latest in a string of patent cases against Internet phone company. Vonage has settled disputes with Sprint, Verizon in recent months.
270320
Vonage Holdings Corp., the beleaguered provider of Internet-based telephone service, said Thursday it has settled a patent lawsuit brought by Verizon Communications Inc. for a maximum of $120 million.
643787
NEW YORK - Vonage Holdings Corp., the beleaguered provider of Internet-based phone service, said yesterday it has settled a patent lawsuit brought by Verizon Communications Inc. for a maximum of $120 million.
760997
Firms finalize a quick settlement in a patent infringement claim over VoIP technology.
653986
Verizon Communications Inc. has charged that Internet phone carrier Vonage Holdings Corp. violated patent rights that Verizon has on technology for making phone calls over the Internet.
691261
Rival mobile telephony vendors are settling their court battle with a cross-licensing agreement.
420052
Nortel Networks Corp., the Canadian maker of telecom equipment, filed a lawsuit on Friday against Vonage Â claiming that it violated nine patents related to Internet phone services and related features such as 911 and 411 calling and click to call.
439064
Patent disputes rarely end up helping charities, but two local organizations could get sizable donations from the resolution of a year-long legal battle between Verizon and Vonage.
466503
Nortel Networks reached a definitive agreement to sell its UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) business to Alcatel-Lucent on Monday, locking down a nonbinding agreement announced in September.
337283
The two companies had reached an agreement in principle last month. Vonage has also settled disputes with Sprint and Verizon in recent months.
623587
(InfoWorld) - Shares of Vonag plunged Friday in the wake ofÂ a patent-infringement ruling against the companyÂ that some analysts called a grim outcome for the VoIP service provider. Vonage stock fell $0.69 to $4.17 on the New York Stock Exchange, losing more than 14 percent of its value, after a jury decided on Thursday that the company infringed three Verizon patents on commercial VoIP services technology. Vonage was ordered to pay $58 million in damages and a 5.5 percent royalty rate on future sales. Verizon also is seeking a permanent injunction to keep Vonage from using the technologies. Vonage plans to appeal. The ruling comes after a string of setbacks for the scrappy service provider, which has yet to make a profit. Vonage was founded in 2001 and has built up its customer base to more than 2.2 million through heavy investments in marketing. Along the way, it has become the most visible independent provider of VoIP, which puts voice calls on data lines for lower cost and some extra features. TheÂ company has claimed Verizon sued in order to eliminate a competitor to the traditional circuit-switched phone service that is its bread and butter. Although the judgment is not very big compared to some, it could be devastating to Vonage if it stands, analysts said. "It's a drop in the bucket, but they need every cent they can get," said Will Stofega, a VoIP analyst at IDC. The company is already dealing with shareholder lawsuits over its disappointing IPO last year along with difficulty meeting regulatory requirements like E911 emergency service and the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, he said. The $58 million sum is about as much as the company is losing every quarter, Ovum analyst Jan Dawson pointed out in a research note on Friday. Vonage lost $65 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. "As this case gets more coverage, potential customers will be worried about signing up for new service with Vonage, and existing customers may churn in larger numbers than usual. Both of these effects would be disastrous for Vonage," Dawson wrote. Verizon might also go after other VoIP providers for infringing the patents, Stofega said. Big providers like the cable operators could absorb royalties, but smaller independent players would be even more vulnerable than Vonage. Already, regulatory requirements and "a race to the bottom" on pricing are threatening the stand-alone VoIP service business, he said. In a few years, many more people will be using the technology, but VoIP companies as such may become a thing of the past. Jeff Pulver, a longtime VoIP booster who co-founded Vonage before leaving the company, was more optimistic in an entry on The Jeff Pulver Blog, in which he called the ruling "the end of the seventh inning," a reference to baseball, which has nine innings. "This isn't the end of the battle," Pulver wrote. "I hope and trust this decision does not curb innovation and progress in VoIP and other Internet communications products, services, and applications."