Vonage Holdings Corp. today announced an $80 million deal that includes a $35 million settlement of a patent dispute with Sprint Communications LP. A Kansas jury awarded Sprint $69.5 million after finding Vonage infringed six Sprint patents.
The balance of the $80 million represents a $40 million payment "for a fully paid future license" to use Sprint’s Voice over Packet patent portfolio plus a $5 million "prepayment for services."
Vonage’s stock price rose 74 percent on the news — to around $2 a share.
But Vonage still has a judgment and injunction in favor of a different adversary, Verizon, to contend with. The case remains on appeal before the Federal Circuit.
Barry Barnett
