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Apple, AT&T, Verizon named in $7bn VoIP patent claim
Patent-holding firm alleges two violations
A company is suing Apple, AT&T and Verizon for a combined total of $7bn over claims that they violated its voice-over-IP patents.
Voip-Pal.com has posted a pair of complaints against Apple (PDF) and Verizon and AT&T (PDF) in the Nevada US District Court alleging that all three companies' products infringe on two patents it owns for "Producing routing messages for voice over IP communications".
The suits ask for a trial and award of $2.83bn from Apple, $2.38bn from Verizon, and $1.83bn from AT&T.
AT&T, Verizon, and Apple all declined to comment on the suit.
Voip-Pal, who insists in a company Q&A (PDF) that it is not a patent troll, said that it has been trying for months to get Apple, AT&T and Verizon to agree on licensing arrangements, to no avail.
"Serving the parties in these lawsuits does not end our discussions with the defendants," said Voip-Pal.com CEO Emil Malak.
"We are confident the current good will on both sides will result in a favorable outcome for all parties involved."
Voip-Pal.com does not offer any products or services of its own, but rather seeks to make money by buying and licensing patents. In this case, the patents were originally assigned to Digifonica, whose portfolio Voip-Pal acquired in 2013. ®