Patent ruling due in Verizon lawsuit against Cox

Verizon Communications is awaiting a jury decision in its VoIP patent lawsuit against Cox Communications, and that ruling could come as soon as today, according to The Wall Street Journal. Verizon sued Cox over the alleged violation of six VoIP-related patents, and the action is just one of a series of similar accusations Verizon has leveled, including patent violation claims against VoIP service provider Vonage and cable TV firm Charter Communications.

The Vonage case was settled with an agreement that Vonage would pay Verizon $117.5 million. The lawsuit against Charter is pending. Verizon is seeking damages of $404 million from Cox. The WSJ reports that Verizon previously struck a deal with Comcast under which the two companies agreed not to sue one another for at least five years, if Comcast agreed to buy Verizon Wireless service for its employees. As cable TV companies continue to win over telephony subscribers, Verizon is looking to get its piece of the action one way or another.

For more:
- read this report [1] at The Wall Street Journal

Related articles
Verizon filed a VoIP patent lawsuit against Charter last February [2]
Verizon and Vonage reached a settlement last November [3]