AT&T takes the cable operator to court over unlicensed use of eight IP voice and quality management patents.

September 1, 2014

2 Min Read
AT&T Sues Cox for Infringing Patents

AT&T is suing Cox Communications for the alleged infringement of eight patents related to IP voice and service quality management.

In a case, AT&T Intellectual Property I LP et. al. v. Cox Communications Inc. et. al., filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware on August 28, AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) claims that Cox Communications Inc. had delayed negotiations about the use of the technologies, used to deliver and manage VoIP and other data services, for years.

The patents in question are:

  • Patent No. 5,809,492 – "APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DEFINING RULES FOR PERSONAL AGENTS"

  • Patent No. 6,118,976 – "ASYMMETRIC DATA COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM"

  • Patent No. 6,487,200 – "PACKET TELEPHONE SYSTEM"

  • Patent No. 6,952,668 – "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING PACKET LOSS OR FRAME ERASURE CONCEALMENT"

  • Patent No. 7,233,897 – "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING PACKET LOSS OR FRAME ERASURE CONCEALMENT"

  • Patent No. 6,993,353 – "CABLE DATA SERVICE METHOD"

  • Patent No. 7,908,140 – "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING PACKET LOSS OR FRAME ERASURE CONCEALMENT"

  • Patent No. 7,907,714 – "PROFILE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM INCLUDING USER INTERFACE FOR ACCESSING AND MAINTAINING PROFILE DATA OF USER SUBSCRIBED TELEPHONY SERVICES"

In the lawsuit, AT&T states:

  • In 2009, AT&T contacted Cox regarding Cox's ongoing infringement of a number of patents, including some of those enumerated in this complaint. Despite years of protracted negotiations, Cox has sought to avoid payment for its infringement by repeatedly delaying and rescheduling negotiations. Given every opportunity, Cox has failed to provide substantial arguments for either non-infringement or invalidity of AT&T's patents. Cox's conduct constitutes a steadfast refusal to take a license, even though Cox generates billions of dollars in revenue every year through its use of AT&T's technologies. AT&T has been forced to file this lawsuit to obtain a judgment that Cox owes royalty payments for its unauthorized use of AT&T’s patented inventions.

For more details, see the lawsuit, which has been reproduced in full by Ars Technica.

— Ray Le Maistre, Circle me on Google+ Follow me on TwitterVisit my LinkedIn profile, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

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