Average Rating: Rate this article:

Vonage Gets Stay, Has No Workaround By Jennifer LeClaire April 25, 2007 8:30AM While Vonage has been granted a stay against the injunction barring the VoIP provider from signing new customers, Vonage admitted in a court filing that it has no VoIP workarounds that might make the need for a stay moot. Vonage had initially assured customers that it had a VoIP workaround and that there would be no interruption of service.   Related Topics Vonage Verizon VoIP Telephone Telecom Communications Latest News Endeavour Inspected for Damage Autism Risk for Kids of Older Mothers Go Online and You Can Save the Planet In Haiti, Relief Gaps Are Spreading U.S. To Form Climate-Change Agency Vonage is breathing a sigh of relief this week as courts gave it permission to continue business as usual despite Verizon's victory in a recently decided patent suit. On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington D.C. issued a permanent stay of a previous court's injunction that would have barred Vonage from signing up new customers. A jury found that the VoIP company trespassed on three of Verizon patents and must pay $58 million plus possible future royalties to its competitor. Vonage is appealing the verdict, but Verizon filed an injunction to prevent the VoIP company from using its patented technology after the jury decided in its favor. No Interruptions? Vonage anticipated Verizon's move and was prepared to seek the stay following an April 6 decision by the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, enjoining the company from using certain VoIP technology to add new customers. The permanent stay enables Vonage to add new customers as it pursues an appeal. "It's business as usual for us," Jeffrey Citron, Vonage chairman and interim chief executive officer, said in a statement, noting that the company remains focused on growing and strengthening its business and driving toward profitability. Citron maintains that Vonage has not infringed on Verizon's technology and remains optimistic that the company ultimately will prevail in the litigation. Vonage will continue to serve existing customers by paying into escrow a quarterly royalty of 5.5 percent throughout the appeals process and by posting a $66 million bond as required by the court. The company said its current cash position allows it to pay the fees to secure the stay as it continues to pursue its legal appeal over the coming months. Readying for Appeal The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington D.C. specializes in patent law and has ordered a speedy hearing. Oral arguments are set for June 25. Vonage executives said they are confident in the strength of the company's appeal and the appeals court's intellectual property expertise. Sharon O'Leary, Vonage's executive vice president, chief legal officer, and secretary, said the company believes the patents in this case were defined in an overly broad and legally unprecedented way. "We believe the district court's decisions repeatedly neglected well-established law on claim construction and, as a result, artificially expanded the coverage of Verizon's patents well beyond what was intended by the patent trademark process." Although O'Leary said she is confident that the "error will be rectified," the company nonetheless warned in a regulatory filing that its intellectual property war with Verizon could bankrupt Vonage. (continued...) 1  |  2  |  Next Page >   Tell Us What You Think Your Comment: Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com Advertisement  Computing 1.   Nvidia Auto-Switches Notebook GPU 2.   MS: Windows 7 Doesn't Hurt Battery 3.   Tips for More Windows 7 Productivity 4.   The Pros and Cons of Apple's iPad 5.   IBM Power7 Server Takes on Big Load EPIC Objects To Google-NSA Ties Cyberattack meant to rattle Google? Average Rating: Symbian 3 Is Now Fully Open Source But mobile OS remains linked to Nokia. Average Rating: Google Attack Highlights Black Market Paying for bug info is hotly debated. Average Rating:

Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

Nvidia Auto-Switches Notebook GPU To Save Battery Life Nvidia has taken the wraps off a notebook technology that chooses the best graphics processor for any given application and automatically routes the workload to Nvidia or Intel processors.   Microsoft Says Battery Woes Not Caused By Windows 7 Battery problems on Windows 7 machines are not caused by the operating system. That's the position of Stephen Sinofsky, head of the Windows division, in a long posting on the Windows engineering blog.   IBM's New POWER7 Servers Save Energy with Big Loads IBM has unveiled high-capacity servers that are the first to be based on its new, multi-core POWER7 chip. It said the new line is designed "to manage the most demanding emerging applications."

Mobile Enterprise Spotlight

To Love or Not To Love: Apple iPad Pros and Cons Now that the iPad has officially been announced, opinions are rolling in on this device that combines the features of an iPod, e-reader, and tablet PC. Will the iPad turn fewer heads than the iPhone?   Analysts See iPad Price Drop, with Some Cannibalization Just weeks before Apple officially rolls out the iPad, financial analysts are making pricing predictions. But could the analysis itself hinder the initial demand for the pricey tablet computer?   Bar Codes Go Mobile, Get Hip Again For decades, retailers have used patterns of black dots and lines to encode data onto products. Now, bar codes are gaining favor as an easy way for cell-phone users to view ads and other data instantly.

Enterprise Technology Spotlight

Google May Add Facebook, Twitter Links to Gmail Google will reportedly roll more social-networking features into Gmail, the fastest-growing e-mail service. The new features could save users the trouble of switching to Facebook or Twitter.   IBM's New POWER7 Servers Save Energy with Big Loads IBM has unveiled high-capacity servers that are the first to be based on its new, multi-core POWER7 chip. It said the new line is designed "to manage the most demanding emerging applications."   IBM Opens Eco-Friendly, Cloud-Focused Data Center IBM has opened its latest data center in North Carolina. Big Blue said the $362 million facility in Research Triangle Park is designed to support cloud computing and other new computing models.

Navigation Sci-Tech Today Home/Top News | Computing | Digital Life | Discovery | Space | Innovation | Health | Science News Environment NewsFactor Network Enterprise I.T. Sites NewsFactor Technology News | Enterprise Security Today | CRM Daily NewsFactor Business and Innovation Sites Sci-Tech Today | NewsFactor Business Report NewsFactor Services FreeNewsFeed | Free Newsletters | Free Whitepapers | About NewsFactor Network | How To Contact Us | Article Reprints | Careers @ NewsFactor | Services for PR Pros | Top Tech Wire | How To Advertise Privacy Policy | Terms of Service © Copyright 2000-2010 NewsFactor Network. All rights reserved. Article rating technology by Blogowogo.