Vonage faces key legal hearing

The final resting place of Vonage Holdings Inc. could be determined in a courtroom next week.
The United States Court of Appeals in Washington on April 24 is expected to rule on whether the embattled Internet telephony provider may sign up new customers. Vonage in a regulatory filing on Tuesday, April 17, said it risks bankruptcy related to patent litigation with Verizon Communications Inc., and a legal ruling against the so-called voice-over-Internet-protocol company could do irreparable harm to its business.
At issue is whether Holmdel, N.J.-based Vonage infringed three patents held by Verizon, a New York telecommunications giant. In so ruling, Judge Claude Hilton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia earlier this month barred Vonage from adding new customers. The court of appeals subsequently stayed that injunction. The federal appeals court will determine whether to stay the injunction permanently.