The Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF) has requested that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) re-examine the VoIP patent it granted C2 Global Technologies (formerly Acceris) in 2001. The patent describes a "method and apparatus for implementing a computer network/Internet telephone system" and the EFF argues that prior patents and reference materials existed that described the technology before C2 ever made the claim on the patent.
The EFF's request is part of a larger program to get the USPTO to throw out certain patents it believes should never have been awarded. A few years after C2 was awarded the patent they began suing all the major carriers for violating their claim to the technology. According to PCWorld, C2 owns patents but does not make any products.
Under the current patent scheme, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, Qwest, Global Crossing and Level 3 have made licensing deals with C2 to use VoIP technology. Other companies like PAETEC, Matrix Telecom, Windstream and Telephone and Data Systems (TDS) have recently had lawsuits filed against them for allegedly infringing on the patent. If the EFF is successful, some of the costs and worries associated with using VoIP technologies will disappear and perhaps, we will see even more innovation in the field.
For more:
- read this article from PCWorld
- read this ZDNet piece
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