Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG), a leading provider of broadband telephone services, today announced that it has acquired ownership of three patents from Digital Packet Licensing Inc. that enable voice over internet protocol technology (VoIP). The three acquired patents, U.S. Patent Nos. 4,782,485, 5,018,136 and 5,444,707, are directed to the compression of packetized digital signals commonly used in VoIP technology.
"We're committed to developing, acquiring and protecting the root technologies that are at the heart of our business," said Michael Tribolet, president, Vonage America Inc. "The acquisition of these patents is part of Vonage's strategic plan to further develop our core technology and build on our innovative, affordable and feature-rich phone service. Vonage's strategic plan also includes a concerted effort to grow, create and acquire other significant intellectual property portfolios."
Vonage's acquisition of these three significant patents now places Vonage in control of pending litigation against Sprint Communications LP and Verizon Communications, among others, in federal court for infringement of one of these VoIP patents. Vonage is presently in cross-licensing negotiations with regard to them. Leading telecommunications companies including Motorola, Time Warner, Qwest Communications and others have already settled with and/or taken a license from Digital Packet on these VoIP patents, and as a result of acquiring the VoIP patents, Vonage also assumes ownership and control over these agreements.
About Vonage
Vonage (NYSE: VG) is a pioneer in the Internet telephony industry. The award winning Vonage(R) service is sold on the web and through national retailers. Vonage Holdings Corp. is headquartered in Holmdel, New Jersey. For more information about Vonage's products and services, please visit http://www.vonage.com or call 1-VONAGE-HELP. Vonage(R) is a registered trademark of Vonage Marketing Inc., a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp.
Safe Harbor Agreement
Statements in this press release that are not historical facts or information may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time the statements are made and/or management's belief as of that time with respect to future events and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to be materially different. Important factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to, our history of net operating losses and our need for cash to finance our growth; the competition we face; our dependence on our customers' existing broadband connections; differences between our service and traditional phone services, including our 911 service; uncertainties relating to regulation of VoIP services; system disruptions or flaws in our technology; our ability to manage our rapid growth; the risk that VoIP does not gain broader acceptance; and other factors described in our registration statement on Form S-1, as amended, and in our subsequent periodic reports filed with the SEC.
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