Comments on: Vonage: no workaround, we’re pretty much screwed http://hinkle.wordpress.com/2007/04/16/vonage-no-workaround-were-pretty-much-screwed/ from the mind of Joseph Hinkle Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:27:53 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: David http://hinkle.wordpress.com/2007/04/16/vonage-no-workaround-were-pretty-much-screwed/#comment-1403 David Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:43:17 +0000 http://hinkle.wordpress.com/2007/04/16/vonage-no-workaround-were-pretty-much-screwed/#comment-1403 Update: Tier 1 research analyst Daniel Berninger points out that it's actually possible that Verizon's patents may be illegitimate. Apparently the two patents in question, 6,104,711 (filed March 6, 1997) and 6,282,574 (filed February 24, 2000) may themselves use technology openly discussed and published by VocalTec back in 1996. In fact, it may also indirectly include technology input from the likes of IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Nortel, etc. made during the VoIP Forum in 1996, with the businesses' original intentions that this tech be used in future open standards. Can anything be proved here that would give Vonage a get out of jail free card? Well, we're certainly not lawyers (we'll defer to the legally-inclined in our audience), but already this patent he-said she-said is smacking a bit of RIM and NTP's fracas, and we all know how ugly that wound up being for the BlackBerry maker. Update: Tier 1 research analyst Daniel Berninger points out that it’s actually possible that Verizon’s patents may be illegitimate. Apparently the two patents in question, 6,104,711 (filed March 6, 1997) and 6,282,574 (filed February 24, 2000) may themselves use technology openly discussed and published by VocalTec back in 1996. In fact, it may also indirectly include technology input from the likes of IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Nortel, etc. made during the VoIP Forum in 1996, with the businesses’ original intentions that this tech be used in future open standards. Can anything be proved here that would give Vonage a get out of jail free card? Well, we’re certainly not lawyers (we’ll defer to the legally-inclined in our audience), but already this patent he-said she-said is smacking a bit of RIM and NTP’s fracas, and we all know how ugly that wound up being for the BlackBerry maker.

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