VERIZON SERVICES CORP., VERIZON LABORATORIES, INC., and VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS, INC., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. VONAGE HOLDINGS CORP., and VONAGE AMERICA, INC., Defendants-Appellants., 503 F.3d 1295

Summary

The patent holders claimed that technology the competitors used to provide telephone services violated U.S. Patent Nos. 6,282,574 ('574 patent), 6,104,711 ('711 patent), and 6,359,880 ('880 patent). A jury found that the competitors violated all three patents and awarded the patent holders $ 58 million for past violations and a 5.5% royalty on future infringing sales. The court of appeals found that the district court properly interpreted disputed claim terms that appeared in the '574 and '711 patents, and did not commit prejudicial error when it instructed the jury on the law of obviousness with respect to those patents. However, the district court erred when it interpreted a claim that appeared in the '880 patent, which described a localized wireless gateway system that allowed wireless telephones to make calls, and instructed the jury on that patent, and the competitors were entitled to a new trial on the patent holders' claim that they violated the '880 patent. A new trial on ...