Jury Says Vonage Infringed on Verizon Patents

A jury found Thursday that Vonage Holdings Corp. infringed on Verizon Communications Inc. patents and ordered the VoIP company to pay $58 million, plus 5.5 percent royalty fees on all of its future revenue. 

Verizon had sought $197 million.

Verizon sued Vonage last year for infringing on five patents that it said Vonage uses to make its network functional. The jury found in federal court in Virginia that Vonage infringed on three of the patents, but said that the infringement was not willful. That saved Vonage from having to pay higher damages.

This is a significant victory for Verizon, Verizon attorney Dan Webb told the Associated Press. It shows that companies that infringe patents can be held liable.

Following the verdict, Verizon attorneys sought permanent injunction barring Vonage from using the patented technology. A hearing is scheduled for March 23.

Vonage said in a statement it was happy the jury found that the company did not infringe on two of the patents and that it expects the other three to be reversed on appeal.

Verizon Communications Inc. www.verizon.com  

Vonage Holdings Corp. www.vonage.com