Vonage Hit With $69.5M Judgement

andy1307 writes "The Washington Post is reporting that Net telephone company Vonage Holdings Corp. was ordered in federal court Tuesday to pay Sprint Nextel $69.5 million in damages for infringing on six telecommunications patents owned by competitor Sprint Nextel Corp. In addition to the damages, jurors awarded Sprint Nextel a 5 percent royalty from Vonage on future revenues. It was the second verdict against Vonage this year. A jury in Virginia determined in March that Vonage had violated three Verizon patents in building its Internet phone system. The jury awarded Verizon $58 million in damages plus 5.5 percent royalties on future revenues. Greg Gorbatenko, a telecommunications and media analyst for Jackson Securities, said the decision 'feels like a death knell' for Vonage because future revenue will likely dry up, preventing the company from investing in better technology or improving customer service."

Comments

i've seen this problem before.

[User 956]

In addition to the damages, jurors awarded Sprint Nextel a 5 percent royalty from Vonage on future revenues.

The correct legal strategy here is, change their name to an unpronounceable symbol, and force everyone to call them "the telecommunications company formerly known as Vonage".

Hurray

[Scorchmon]

Well, on the bright side, we won't be having to hear anymore of that damn "Woohoo" song from their commercials.

Re:And so, the incumbent telcos smugly feel...

[Anonymous Coward]

.. they have destroyed VOIP as a threat, and they can go about their usual greedy, grasping ways. Sprint will raise a glass to Verizon and toast to their continued wealth.

Gentlemen. . .to evil.