Vonage banned from using Verizon patents

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has issued a permanent injunction, banning Vonage from using Internet phone technology own by Verizon.

The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Claude Hilton is the latest salvo in the ongoing legal battle over intellectual property rights covering VoIP technology. Earlier Verizon won a $58 million judgment against Vonage when a jury ruled the VoIP provider had violated three Verizon patents in providing its service.

Vonage is expected to appeal any injunction and seek a stay until its appeal of the jury verdict is complete, according to Ed Pennington, head of the patent practice at Bingham McCutcheon, a Washington, D.C., law firm, said at this week’s Spring VON 2007 conference in San Jose.

There is hope for Vonage and other VoIP players in the appeals process, he added. Statistically speaking, about 50% of the patent infringement cases are overturned on appeal, he added, primarily because a higher court finds the original judge construed the claim too broadly.

“Vonage will seek an injunction stay, pending its appeal, which will take about a year,” Pennington said. “Just because Verizon got a good case construction at trial doesn’t mean that it won’t be reversed on appeal.”