Wow… this just keeps getting worse and worse. Vonage, with its stock down to around $7.22 a share, is getting hit be even more lawsuits, this time over patent infringement. Boy, they just can’t catch a break – they spent a lot of money buying three patents from Digital Packet Licensing Inc., only to discover that it is being sued by Klausner Technologies, a holding company started by inventor Judah Klausner.
Klausner, according to the Wall Street Journal, is suing over a service feature that allows users to get voice mail messages in an email form. He is seeking $180 million in damages.
Vonage, had previously tussled with Verizon and Sprint-Nextel over patent issues. Verizon claims that Vonage is infringing its patents related to calling features, including call forwarding. Sprint Nextel lawsuit says that Vonage has infringed on seven patents that are related to sending calls between the Internet and conventional phone networks.”
“Vonage does not believe it is infringing on Verizon’s patents. Furthermore, we feel that we have meritorious defenses to all of claims being asserted against us in this litigation,” company spokesperson told Internet News. “By acquiring the Digital Packets patents, Vonage has now gained additional resources to defend against infringement claims on its VoIP technology.”
Vonage is also facing 15 class action from unhappy shareholders as well. What does this mean? A lot of negativity around Vonage, should keep the company (and the stock) on the ropes for a long long time! Not that you didn’t know that!
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