Sprint Nextel Corp. reported that one of its subsidiaries has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Voice over Internet Protocol service providers Vonage Holdings Corp., theglobe.com Inc. and its operating subsidiary Voiceglo Holdings Inc.
The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, claims that the defendants have “willfully infringed seven patents related to voice-over-packet technology developed by Sprint Nextel,” and that the patents protect a series of innovations that enable the processing and delivery of packetized voice and data communications,” including VoIP communications.
Sprint Nextel said it was seeking an injunction that would prevent the defendants from “further misappropriating Sprint Nextel’s technology and infringing Sprint Nextel’s patents.” The suit also seeks unspecified monetary damages.
Ed Cespedes, president of theglobe.com and Voiceglo, said in a statement that he believed the suit lacked merit and that Voiceglo’s technology “is unique, proprietary and patent pending.” Cespedes also questioned the motive of the suit.
“Use of the Internet is open to all,” Cespedes said. “Products like ours that are low cost or free, easy to acquire and global are a natural threat to incumbent telecommunications companies. Our products are meant to be the central communications hub of users’ lives. They encompass far more than voice and incorporate features like SMS, e-mail, messaging, audio and video broadcasting, podcasting, music, search, photos and more.”
Voiceglo recently reported that its GloPhone desktop telephony product has surpassed 5 million users around the world.
Vonage, which recently surpassed the 1-million customer mark, did not immediately return a call for comment on the suit. The company reportedly is in final preparations for an initial public offering.
Published reports noted that Sprint Nextel and Vonage broke off merger talks earlier this year.
