The patent problem

The voice-over-IP industry appears to have a fairly serious legal problem on its hands regarding intellectual property. Ever since Verizon successfully sued Vonage, claiming the VoIP pioneer violated its patents in providing its VoIP service, the industry has been waiting for the next shoe to drop.

Attorneys have predicted more lawsuits; the VoIP industry has disparaged Verizon's legal standing; and Vonage customers have pondered whether they need to change providers.

Much of the media coverage where Vonage is concerned has focused on the fallout, but this looks to be an industrywide issue that no one who uses VoIP — including, potentially, the cable companies — might be able to escape. The patents Verizon claimed were violated are fairly broad and could wind up impacting more VoIP players. Verizon itself has now been sued, along with several others, by a small firm called Web Technology. The question now is whether there is likely to be a ripple effect that will have other VoIP providers running up big legal bills or paying off smaller pests.

One thing that isn't going to help is the kind of sniping abundant in the VoIP industry right now. It makes little sense to complain about Verizon defending its intellectual property rights — that is simply what companies in its position do if they hope to protect what they believe is theirs.

What those who wish to derail the patent problem must do — and I assume many are — is the diligent work to address the key issues and enable either a reversal on appeal or some more definitive statement about who owns what IP in VoIP.

The service is here to stay. The remaining question, however, is which VoIP players will survive to earn a profit and which ones will fail under the burden of legal bills and/or license payments. Margins are already tight, and competition makes higher VoIP prices unpalatable. Solving the patent problem should be on everyone's front burner.