UPDATE 2-Inventor sues Google, Verizon, others on voicemail
August 27th, 2008 | by admin |(Adds details of prior suit by Verizon against Klausner)
By Eric Auchard
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Emboldened by settlementswith Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), inventor JudahKlausner filed a voicemail patent lawsuit on Tuesday againstGoogle Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) andothers.
The inventor’s company, Klausner Technologies Inc, alsonamed as defendants LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) ComverseTechnology Inc (CMVT.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Citrix Systems Inc (CTXS.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) EmbarqCorp (EQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in a patent infringement complaint filed in U.S.District Court in Tyler, Texas, according to a court filing.
Anticipating the attack, Verizon filed its own lawsuitagainst Klausner two weeks ago in the U.S. District Court forthe Eastern District of New York that seeks to have a federaljudge declare the inventor’s visual voicemail patent invalid.
“We anticipated Klausner’s action,” Verizon spokesman JimSmith said in a statement. “We are seeking a declaration thatKlausner’s visual voicemail patent is invalid and thatVerizon’s system does not infringe the patent in any event.”
Verizon offers a mobile phone called Voyager built by LGElectronics that features visual voicemail.
The new case involves claims by Klausner tied to patents invarious countries he began receiving in 1992 for “visualvoicemail” — applying a graphical way of interacting withvoicemail messages that allow it to be used like e-mail.
In June, Apple, which recently popularized “visualvoicemail” through its hit iPhone device, together with AT&Tand eBay Inc, the owner of Web-based calling service Skype,settled a patent suit filed last December by Klausner.
