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Story URL: http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/voip/0,3800004463,39153042,00.htm

Vonage hit by VoIP patent lawsuit
When the lawyers come calling...

By Reuters

Published: Wednesday 05 October 2005

Sprint Nextel said on Tuesday that a subsidiary had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Vonage Holdings and another internet-based calling service.

Sprint Nextel, the third-largest US wireless company, claimed Vonage and Voiceglo Holdings, a unit of Theglobe.com, had infringed seven patents relating to voice over data packet technology developed by Sprint.

The lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Kansas City, seeks injunctions against Vonage and Voiceglo as well as unspecified damages.

Vonage, the largest US independent internet-based telephone service, passed one million subscriptions last month and is reportedly preparing for an IPO. Voiceglo offers a software-based system that allows voice calls between computers and to regular telephones, similar to Skype.

Voiceglo, Vonage and many other companies offer services using voice over IP, or VoIP, technology, which transmits phone calls in the same way web pages and email are sent over the internet. The lawsuit does not specify how Sprint Nextel believes its patents are being infringed.

The company said: "While Sprint prefers to resolves disputes amicably, Sprint will take all necessary steps to protect the creativity and innovation of its employees."

A Vonage spokeswoman said the company had not seen the lawsuit and could not immediately comment.

Voiceglo president Ed Cespedes said he had not seen the lawsuit, and he didn't know why his company or Vonage would be singled out by Sprint Nextel.

He said: "I suppose Sprint's position is they must own VoIP and therefore anyone providing it must be violating their patent."

A Sprint spokeswoman said the company had tried to reach an agreement for more than a year with both companies over the patents. She declined to say whether Sprint had reached agreements or received royalties for the patents with any other VoIP providers.

She said: "We are not claiming to have invented voice over packet technology but we do have patents that have facilitated the use of this technology, and we will take appropriate action to protect the use of these patents."