How much more can Vonage Holdings Corp. take? The IP telephony provider said late Friday it is facing another patent infringement suit, this time filed by AT&T Inc.
Vonage told the Securities and Exchange Commission that AT&T filed the claim on Oct. 17 in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Wisconsin. AT&T says Vonage is illegally using a patent for a wide-area packet technology system and wants Vonage to stop using the platform. Whether the matter will go to court remains unknown.
AT&T also is seeking treble damages and attorneys’ fees; the amounts were not specified.
This marks Vonage’s latest round of patent infringement problems. A court recently reaffirmed Vonage’s loss to Verizon Communications Inc. earlier this year, a day after Vonage lost another case to Sprint Nextel Corp. Considering how much money the unprofitable Vonage now owes Verizon and Sprint (a minimum of $127 million), the big question is: how much longer can Vonage keep going?
AT&T Inc. www.att.com
Sprint Nextel Corp. www.sprint.com
Verizon Communications Inc. www.verizon.com
Vonage Holdings Corp. www.vonage.com
