Klausner Goes After Oracle Over Visual Voicemail Patent
Klausner Technologies, headed up by the man who claims to have invented the PDA and electronics organizer, has found the next target to sue for visual voicemail licensing fees: Oracle.
Klausner says it has 25 patents in the U.S., Europe and Asia that cover visual voicemail and has, so far, licensed its technology to 34 licensees. Among them are "major U.S. and European mobile operators, international cell phone manufacturers, cable/VOIP providers as well as providers of Visual Voicemail products and services for the enterprise market," Klausner said. Among the prominent licensees of the visual voicemail patents are AOL, Vonage, as well as AT&T and Apple.
The company today said that it has filed a patent infringement suit against Oracle, stating that the legal action "is based on the sales in the United States of Oracle’s enterprise messaging products which allow users to visually identify and selectively retrieve enterprise voicemail and which infringe the Klausner Technologies Visual Voicemail Patents."
Klausner may not be a familiar name, but some readers may remember that the company sued Apple and the iPhone for visual voicemail patent infringement in December of 2007. Back then, Klausner specifically mentioned U.S. patents 5,572,576 and 5,283,818 as being infringed. That lawsuit was, in large parts, reminiscent of the NTP email patent infringement against RIM, which forced the Blackberry maker to settle for $612.5 million in damages and royalties.
Klausner sued Apple and AT&T for $360 million, but settled with Apple for an undisclosed amount in mid 2008. Klausner Technologies does not provide information about its patents through its website, but offers just email address, which customers can use to inquire about licensing information. the company was founded by Judah Klausner, who says he invented the PDA 34 years ago.
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Every time I read an article like this, I die a bit inside.
I see the day coming when technological advancement stops completely and there is nothing but HUGE court battles over who owns the patent to what.
I see the day coming when technological advancement stops completely and there is nothing but HUGE court battles over who owns the patent to what.
More then less, that day is already here... The 'system' is breaking progress...
His name's Judah... says it all.
This is so silly. The patent process worked here. If you don't think that having the ability to choose which voicemail to answer first is a significant advance then go back to the old way. Patents are still time limited. The inventor not a patent troll was the one who got paid. This sounds like the same carping about how you should be allowed to steal music because it is so easy and everyone is doing it. I don't think the large music companies are without fault, but I can certainly understand their anger at having their business model destroyed by intellectual theft. Tech advances are actually much faster and healthier than they were 20, 30 or 50 years ago. Just because you can imagine it now that it is the new standard does not reduce the efficiency and social benefit offered by its creators. There are problems with the patent system, but most of the people who are complaining about them are actually saying: Hey I like buying stolen software ideas. It saves me money and gives me the freedom to choose any software. Because you enjoy stealing and the benefits of stealing, doesn't make it right.
This is so silly. The patent process worked here. If you don't think that having the ability to choose which voicemail to answer first is a significant advance then go back to the old way. Patents are still time limited. The inventor not a patent troll was the one who got paid. This sounds like the same carping about how you should be allowed to steal music because it is so easy and everyone is doing it. I don't think the large music companies are without fault, but I can certainly understand their anger at having their business model destroyed by intellectual theft. Tech advances are actually much faster and healthier than they were 20, 30 or 50 years ago. Just because you can imagine it now that it is the new standard does not reduce the efficiency and social benefit offered by its creators. There are problems with the patent system, but most of the people who are complaining about them are actually saying: Hey I like buying stolen software ideas. It saves me money and gives me the freedom to choose any software. Because you enjoy stealing and the benefits of stealing, doesn't make it right.
+10
This is so silly. The patent process worked here. If you don't think that having the ability to choose which voicemail to answer first is a significant advance then go back to the old way.
Funny, I own a (PDA) Palm Pilot, I also own an iPhone. My P/P has never taken a single voicemail. I have listened to hundreds from my iPhone. I don't care that Klausner claims to have patented the idea first, when Apple was the first to bring an actual device to market.
Patents should be predicated on actually using them for things other than a kludge with which you beat people over the head with in court to get money.
E.g. A Patent's initial term should be 5 years, with which you have to build and market a device. If you fail to do this, then you should lose your patent, and the general market is free to use the technology. If you do build and market your device, then you could renew your patent another 5 years, after which it should expire. I think 10 years of exclusivity is more than enough to assure that a technology innovator gets paid.
That being said, I do find it hilarious that Apple was taken to court over a patent infringement suit and lost. Apple is one of the worst patent trolls out there.
If this guy claims to have invented the PDA, then why not claim the entire market instead? The fact he isn't doing that suggests he's some troll.
The Klausner patents are totally invalid based on prior art. we have located multiple, well documented prior art examples that pre-date the Klausner filing date by almost a decade.
Walt Tetschner, tetschner@aol.com 978-266-1966