Vonage, Nortel settle patent dispute

Internet-telephony company Vonage says it has agreed to settle a patent dispute with Nortel Networks with no payment of damages. This puts to rest the litigation against Vonage after it settled suits brought by AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel earlier this year.

The settlement involves a limited cross license to three Nortel and three Vonage patents and will not call for any monetary payments by any party. Claims over past damages will be dismissed without prejudice, Vonage said.

The dispute originated with a lawsuit filed by Digital Packet Licensing against Nortel in 2004. Vonage bought that company in 2006, and Nortel filed a counterclaim to the suit earlier this month. It centres around patents behind 911 and 411 emergency and information call numbers, as well as click-to-call technology.