The WSJ reported Skype has been slapped with a patent infringement lawsuit by IDT Corp's Net2Phone division. The report states the U.S. District Court in Newark, NJ filed the suit Thursday, however, Skype has yet to comment because the company hasn't received any of the documents. The suit claims one of the patents on "Internet calling" Net2Phone holds was infringed by Skype. Net2Phone is taking the classic stance of trying to immediately stop Skype from further infringement and seeking financial compensation for damages to date.
In the case of Skype, it is only a matter of time for a company who demonstrates the kind of massive growth and scale they have that they are hit with these kinds of lawsuits. Assuming the claim is valid this will be another classic fix settled with a chunk of change to make Net2Phone go away while adding additional capital to the already hefty price tag paid for Skype. It is likely patent attorneys have been lining up at the doors of smaller VOIP players to go after the big guns in hopes of getting a piece of the pie and is a sign similar suits are likely to follow.
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