Interesting Patent Ruling
Interesting development as a result of recent Supreme Court ruling.
Vonage Asks for Retrial of Key Patent Case
By Reuters
May 2, 2007
WASHINGTON—Internet phone company Vonage Holdings Corp. said on Tuesday it is seeking a retrial of a key patent infringement case against the company in light of a landmark patent ruling by the Supreme Court on April 30.
Vonage said it had filed a motion with a federal appeals court asking it to vacate a March 8 patent infringement verdict against the company and send the case back to a lower court for a new trial.
Vonage said the infringement verdict in favor of Verizon Communications Inc. should be reconsidered because of a Supreme Court ruling on Monday in which the high court loosened a key legal standard making it easier to invalidate some patents on the grounds they are obvious inventions.
Vonage said the lower court should be instructed to review the case taking into account the Supreme Court's opinion on April 30, which called for "a more expansive and flexible approach that allows for consideration of common sense when assessing whether an invention is ordinary or obvious, and thus ineligible for patent protection."
"Vonage is confident this ruling should have a positive impact on its case," the company said in a statement.
Verizon is seeking to bar Vonage from any use of its patented technologies after a jury in March found Vonage had infringed three patents.
On April 6 a federal court in Alexandria, Va., barred Vonage from adding new customers while it appeals the patent infringement finding. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has stayed the injunction while Vonage appeals the case.
Posted by staff at May 2, 2007 11:19 AM