Saturday, December 14, 2024
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Patent trollin’: VoIP-Pal files third (at least) lawsuit against Apple

Another day, yet another lawsuit from “patent troll” VoIP-Pal. As noted by AppleInsider, the non-practicing entity is suing 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).

This is the latest in a string of lawsuits VoIP-Pal has filed against Apple. Among them:

° In May 2018, it sued Apple accusing the iPhone maker of infringing a collection of four voice over IP patents with the iMessage, FaceTime, and Wi-Fi Calling functions.

° In February 2016, VoIP-Pal filed a lawsuit against Apple, as well as Verizon Wireless Services and AT&T. The complaints alleged infringement by Apple, Verizon and AT&T of various claims of Voip-Pal’s patents. 

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office waded into a dispute between Apple and Voip-Pal.com earlier this year, defending two Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions that Apple claims should be thrown out because they were the product of a “campaign of intimidation” by Voip-Pal, reports Law360.

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.