Vonage v Verizon - Jury will decide today

The jury in the patent dispute between Verizon and Vonage will reconvene this afternoon, after failing to make a decision on the case Wednesday.

The jury of eight had, during their deliberations, sent District Judge Claude Hilton notes for clarification on terms used during the hi-tech case.

The jury asked had asked if they could be allowed to work through the night on the case which started February 21 .

Verizon sued Vonage in June, claiming broad patent violation. In January it alleged that Vonage had “appropriated the results of years of research conducted by Verizon and its predecessors. Vonage relies on the intellectual property developed by Verizon in delivering its infringing product and services.”

In closing arguments Wednesday, Verizon’s lawyer, Dan Webb, said Vonage had built its business based on Verizon’s patents and said Vonage should be forced to pay damages. It went on to say Vonage should also pay a royalty fee of $4.93 per telephone line, per month for its VoIP service.

Verizon alleges that Vonage infringes on five of its patents.

Last month it was widely reported that the future of Vonage is at risk if Verizon wins the case. Vonage told Telecoms.com however, that it has successfully designed a workaround if it is forced to abandon its existing architecture.

Vonage also said that if it wins the case, it would “have a shot at invalidating all their [Verizon’s] patents in this space”. Something a legal source said was “customary in this sort of case and entirely plausible”.