Vonage to pay Sprint $69.5 million in patent case

In a surprising twist of events, Vonage, a publicly held commercial voice over IP (VoIP) network and SIP company that provides telephone service via a broadband connection, was ordered to pay $69.5 million in damages to Sprint when a federal jury found the company had infringed on six patents held by Sprint Nextel.

In 2005, Sprint sued Vonage for allegedly infringing seven patents from Sprint that dealt with connecting Internet phone calls. Vonage denied the claims and argued that Sprint's patents shouldn't have been approved in the first place. However, after the verdict recently released, Vonage will appeal the verdict and will try to develop workarounds that don't infringe on Sprint's patents.

This is the latest in a series of legal setbacks the voice over Internet Protocol provider has faced this year. In March, a jury in Virginia found Vonage had infringed on three patents held by Verizon Communications. And the court ordered Vonage to pay $58 million in damages, plus 5.5 percent in royalties on future revenue earned while it was infringing on the patents. Vonage is currently appealing the decision.