The high sensitive paten infringement row between Vonage and Verizon has received Federal verdict today. Giving its verdict in favor of Verizon, the Virginia court has ordered Vonage to pay $58 million to Verizon Communications for violating on three of the company’s patents.
Vonage has also been asked to pay Verizon 5.5 percent of the revenues that the company acquired by using Verizon’s patents. The Federal court will hear next round of arguments on 23 March to decide the fate of Vonage.
It seems that if both the companies fail to reach a consensus, Vonage may be prevented from providing VoIP services temporarily.
However, Vonage still maintains its strong voice. In its official site, the company says,
We are delighted that the jury rejected Verizon’s meritless claim that we infringed their two billing patents. Of the seven patents Verizon originally sued on, they prevailed on only three and we expect that verdict to be reversed on appeal. The jury’s damage award represents a 70% reduction from Verizon’s $197MM claim. The jury also unanimously rejected Verizon’s claim that Vonage willfully infringed its patents.
