Vonage found guilty in Verizon patent case

VoIP fans, look alive: the nation's most popular VoIP provider, Vonage, has been found guilty of infringing on three Verizon patents and has been ordered to pay $58 million in damages by a federal jury. In a suit brought against Vonage, Verizon accused the VoIP provider of infringing on seven patents relating to VoIP technology and asked for a whopping $197 million in damages. While the end payout is significantly less than what Verizon was hoping for, this is a suit that could have widespread ramifications in the VoIP industry--and in the enterprise as well. Verizon has filed an injunction against Vonage, requesting that the company stop using the technology in question but Vonage has reassured its customers that there will be no interruption in service, even if the injunction is granted. Hopefully Vonage can make good on that promise, as a lot of SMBs rely on their service for their communications needs. It remains unclear if any other VoIP services could be effected by this ruling ,but if there are others, you can bet that Verizon will go after them.

For more on the ruling:
- see this Ars Technica article