Filing a patent lawsuit against Vonage is the new fad. Have you filed your own yet? Well, AT&T has, making AT&T the third major telco to sue the VoIP juggernaut. At the center of the case is a single patent, and AT&T says it has been negotiating with Vonage over the last two years to pay a licensing fee, but that the talks didn't pan out and the lawsuit was its last resort.
Two years? Does that mean that Vonage went public in May 2007 knowing it would have at least one patent fight on its hands, and possibly three? It may have needed the money, but maybe it should have sought a lower IPO price--like something closer to the $1.54 it closed at on Friday.
For more:
- The Wall Street Journal reports (Sub. req.)
- Here's a free story in PC World
- And Russell Shaw at ZDNet.com posted the patent in question
Related articles:
- Vonage recent settled a VoIP patent case with Sprint Nextel