BusinessWeek says that there are over 2,000 VoIP patents and the some of the holders are getting more aggressive in enforcing their rights as the industry grows. Verizon (VZ) has already won a high-profile VoIP patent case against Vonage (VG). Several other patents are held by large companies including AT&T (T) and Cisco (CSCO).
The emergence of patent litigation in the VoIP field could gore some fairly big oxes. Vonage is clearly one. Its stock has done poorly since its IPO and the Verizon court victory has not helped that.
But, the most lucrative targets of any broad VoIP patent claims would be the cable companies. They have added hundreds of thousand of VoIP customers as they take business away from big landline companies like Verizon (V), Qwest (Q), and AT&T (T). If they have infringed on intellectual property, the financial damages could be substantial given how much revenue they bring in from VoIP customers. Comcast (CMCSA), Time Warner (TWX), and Cablevision (CVC) are well-heeled and have huge investments in the technology.
The other company that could have some risk is VoIP pioneer Skype, now a division of EBay (EBAY). The companies has 177 million registered users, and Ebay obviously has deep pockets.
It would be odd if patent claims began to change the face of VoIP, one of the most disruptive technologies of the last several years. But, it could happen.
Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.
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