Verizon Sues Provider of Fixed VoIP Services

On January 11, 2008, the Verizon companies filed a lawsuit against the Cox cable companies in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia for infringement of eight patents involving Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”). The lawsuit is significant because Verizon is now seeking to expand the breadth and strength of its VoIP patent portfolio by targeting a provider of fixed VoIP services based upon its successful claims of patent infringement against Vonage. Four of the eight patents at issue in this lawsuit were also at issue in the Vonage case, which settled in October of last year after Vonage agreed to pay Verizon up to $120 million.