IDG News Service - Vonage Holdings Corp. is downplaying an appeals court decision affirming an earlier verdict of patent infringement on two patents owned by Verizon Communications Inc.
The decision today calls for the U.S. District Court in Virginia to retry the infringement judgment on a third patent. It also vacated the original $58 million in damages and 5.5% royalty imposed in the original judgment.
The decision comes a day after Vonage lost another high-profile patent-infringement case brought by Sprint Nextel Corp. The jury in that case awarded Sprint $69.5 million in damages. Vonage vowed to appeal that decision too.
Vonage has already deployed technology so that it doesn't require the two patents upheld in the Verizon case, it said. The company maintains that it did not infringe on the remaining Verizon patent in question and plans to defend itself against any new damages judgments.
Vonage is the largest independent voice-over-IP provider in the U.S. While it continues to assure customers that the service remains reliable throughout the legal wrangling, the company has seen a decline in new customers. In its second quarter this year, Vonage added 57,000 customer lines, compared with 256,000 in the same quarter in the previous year.
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