The patent woes continue for Vonage, and this time they are being sued by Nortel. However, Vonage is dealing from a stronger hand than in past lawsuits from Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint Nextel. Vonage acquired three VoIP patents last year from Digital Packet Licensing, and DPL had already sued Nortel for violating those patents, and Vonage just continued that lawsuit. Now, Nortel has retaliated and claims that Vonage is violating 12 Nortel patents.
According to court documents from the US District Court in Delaware, Vonage actually sued Nortel in August this year to get three Nortel patents disallowed. Nortel now claims that Vonage is violating those three patents, and nine others. The original three Nortel patents in question are:
- 6.091,808 - Methods of and Apparatus for Providing Telephone Call Control and Information
- 6,445,695 - System and Method for Supporting Communications Services on Behalf of a Communications Device Which Cannot Provide Those Services Itself
- 7,050,861 - Controlling a Destination Terminal From an Originating Terminal
The three patents that Vonage acquired from DPL last year are:
- 4,782,485 - Multiplexed Digital Packet Telephone System
- 5,018,136 - Multiplexed Digital Packet Telephone System
- 5,444,707 - Packet Switching Communication System
These three patents are in the area of compression technology frequently used in VoIP services.
It's good for Vonage that they are on the offensive in this fight, though it is likely that Nortel has more ammunition than Vonage. At least Vonage has some patents to fight back with, now.
I'll keep digging to try to find all the other nine Nortel patents involved in Nortel's counter-suit, and will report on them when I find them.
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