Vonage Guilty in Sprint Patent Suit

Net phone company faces second huge judgment against it this year
By Sean McManus
Posted Sep 26, 2007 12:10 AM CDT
Vonage Guilty in Sprint Patent Suit
Attendees make free phone calls over VoiP at the Vonage booth at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, in this Jan. 10, 2007 file photo. Internet telephone company Vonage Holdings Corp. on Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007 reported a much reduced loss for the second quarter as it...   (Associated Press)

Vonage was found guilty of illegally using Sprint’s Internet phone patents, and now owes the carrier $69.5 million in damages, according to Dow Jones Newswires. More worrisome for Vonage is that an injunction could soon bar it from offering Net-based phone service altogether.

News of the Kansas City federal jury’s verdict sent an already floundering Vonage stock to a record low $1.30 close on Tuesday, down 34 percent. This is not the first of Vonage’s legal troubles: in March, another jury ruled that Vonage had illegally used Verizon patents, and ordered a payout of $66 million to that phone giant, plus a royalty based on future revenues. Vonage is appealing both cases. (More Vonage stories.)

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