Saturday, December 14, 2024
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Apple counters latest legal battle with VoIP-Pal

As noted by AppleInsider, Apple countered a renewed legal challenge from VoIP-Pal, saying it doesn’t infringe on the patent-in-suit and attests the property’s claim are invalid. 

In a complaint lodged with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Apple seeks to obtain a declaratory judgment stating non-infringement of a call and data routing patent owned by VoIP-Pal.

On April 8, the non-practicing entity (ie, a “patent troll”) sued Apple for at least the third time, claiming FaceTime and iMessage/Messages infringe on a single patent covering call routing and handling. Filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, VoIP-Pal’s suit hinges on a patent detailing methods of seamlessly integrating IP-based calls with external networks like a public switched telephone network (PTSN).

VoIP-Pal is a publicly traded corporation that acquired Digifonica International Limited in 2013 in order to fund, co-develop and complete Digifonica’s suite of patents. Digifonica purportedly operationalized and tested its suite of software solutions with applications in five core areas of Internet connectivity: Routing, Billing and Rating; Lawful Intercept; Short Number Dialing (Enhanced 911) Mobile Gateway; and Uninterrupted Transmission.

By the way, a patent troll is an individual or an organization that purchases and holds patents for unscrupulous purposes such as stifling competition or launching patent infringement suits. In legal terms, a patent troll is a type of non-practicing entity: someone who holds a patent but is not involved in the design or manufacture of any product or process associated with that patent.

Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.