Vonage faces Sprint suit

Vonage is looking at another court confrontation over patent infringement. Reports out of Kansas City indicate that the U.S. District Court there rejected Vonage's request to dismiss a lawsuit bought by Sprint Nextel in 2005. Sprint said Vonage infringed on seven of its VoIP-processing patents and sought unspecified damages. The suit is expected to go to trial next month, when another federal court is scheduled to render its final decision on a similar suit brought by Verizon.

The U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., ruled against Vonage last March, ordering the Holmdel, NJ VoIP provider to pay Verizon $58 million in damages and to stop signing up customers. Vonage won a reprieve on the sign-up injunction while the decision was appealed. Subscriber growth was nonetheless affected. During Vonage's legal struggle, Comcast overtook it as the largest consumer VoIP provider in the United States.

Vonage executives last week said company engineers had developed workarounds on the Verizon patents that went into use July 1. They also said legal fees for patent litigation had reached $16 million this year, and was expected to decrease "over time," which now does not appear to include September.

For more:
- Roy Mark provides more information on the disputed patents at internetnews here
- Jason Gertzen of The Kansas City Star covers the recent court decision here

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