Vonage refused retrial

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has rejected Vonage’s request for a retrial in its patent dispute against Verizon Communications.

Earlier this week, embattled VoIP provider, Vonage, filed a request for a retrial of the case in which it was found guilty of infringing Verizon owned patents.

The motion followed a landmark decision on Monday by the US Supreme Court, which passed legislation making it easier to invalidate patents that are deemed obvious or excessively broad reaching.

In its filing, Vonage asked the appeals court to send the decision back to the lower court to retry the case based on the new test for determining when an invention is too obvious to warrant patent protection.

But the motion has been denied and Vonage faces the very real threat of closure after being found guilty of infringing on the patents. The internet telephony company recently won a stay of injunction allowing it to keep signing up subscribers whilst a decision is made on its future.

Vonage is scheduled to make an appeal on the verdict on June 25.