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Oct. 2, 2009

Sprint says it has finally settled its ongoing patent dispute with Big River over Voice over Packet (VoP) communications for an undisclosed amount of money.

Harley Ball, v.p. of intellectual property at Sprint said "overall, Sprint was very intent on seeking an injunction to preserve its competitive position as a leader in providing cable VoP solutions. But we are also pleased that we were able to enter into an agreement that allowed Big River to be licensed so that it can continue to service its existing customers and smaller cable operations."

Under the specific terms of the settlement, Big River will compensate Sprint for a non-exclusive license to Sprint's VoP patent portfolio that allows Big River to provide services to predefined cable companies.

Sprint had sued Big River and three other telecommunications companies – NuVox, Broadvox and Paetec – in January of last year. The wireless carrier alleged infringement of six patents owned by Sprint relating to VoP communications.

Sprint had settled with the three other companies prior to today's announcement.

The financial terms of the Big River settlement are confidential. The Sprint VoP portfolio contains more that 120 U.S. patents and numerous foreign patents which cover methods for carrying voice traffic over a packet-based network, such as the Internet.

Overall, some of the patents cover telecom systems offered in conjunction with cable TV and high-speed Internet access services.

"We are happy to put this litigation behind us and return our attention to providing our customers with excellent telecommunication services," said Big River President Jerry Howe in a statement.

He added "we are pleased to be a licensee of Sprint's patents and look forward to providing our services under the protection of this portfolio. We recognize the importance of Sprint's VoP patent portfolio."

In other (different) but similar patent lawsuits, PalTalk Holdings Inc. recently sued Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. PalTalk is the owner of various patents relating to methods and systems for communicating over networks.

According to the complaint, PalTalk's predecessor HearMe, formerly known as MPath Interactive, is one of the early pioneers of technology that allows users to participate in multiplayer games over the Internet.

"PalTalk's technology provides for efficient handling of communications between players necessary to maintain a consistent game environment for all players," the suit states.

The patent is for a Server-Group Messaging System for Interactive Applications. The U.S. Patent Office issued other patents on HearMe's technology, including U.S. Patent No. 6,226,686 issued May 1, 2001. The '686 Patent is a continuation of U.S. Patent No. 6,018,766, which is a continuation of the '523 Patent.

In 2002, HearMe sold the patents to PalTalk Holdings Inc. The '523 Patent describes using a group messaging server to receive the individual messages from each gamer's computer. After MPath invented its technology, online game play became one of the most popular Internet activities still in use today.

The original complaint states that defendant Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. infringes the PalTalk patents through PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Network Service and PlayStation 3 game consoles.

In addition to revenue from hardware and online services, SCEA's wholly owned subsidiaries Guerilla Games, Evolution Studios Ltd. and Polyphony Digital Inc. produce video games that use the online gaming features provided by the PS3, PSP and PlayStation Network products and services.

SCEA also partners with certain game studios, such as Insomniac Games Inc., which also produce video games that use the online gaming features and receives royalties from other game publishers for games that can be played on the PSP, PS3 and PlayStation Network.

In June of this year, SCEA announced it had 25 million registered users for its PlayStation Network Services.

Defendant Sony Online Entertainment LLC is now infringing the PalTalk patents through its "massively multiplayer online role-playing game EverQuest."

In 2004, EverQuest and EverQuest II had more than 430,000 subscribers at a cost of $8 to $15 per month.

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Source: Sprint Wireless.