Vonage done signing new customers for now due to Verizon patent dispute

If you thought things were going poorly for Vonage, you haven’t heard nothing yet. The company has requested a permanent stay on Judge Claude Hilton’s decision that Vonage cannot sign up any new subscribers until they can implement a workaround that will stear clear of Verizon’s patent. Unfortunately for the company, things don’t seem to bright. They have made public that it could take months to find a workaround, and by that time, they would’ve lost so much time in the market that they’ll pretty much be in a van down by the river.

Vonage has offered some insight on their chances of survival:

Even if Vonage “was somehow able to implement a design around, and was able to ultimately prevail on appeal, it would have no hope of regaining its lost customers, or its lost goodwill, and its loss of revenue would be permanent and …” Apparently the sentence was cut off due to its “confidential” nature, but USA Today makes a logical guess that “the tone of the passage suggests that these losses, in the aggregate, could help drive the company out of business.” I would imagine that after months of spending R&D dollars they would either be limping along, or be completely wiped clean.

Vonage, I think it’s about time you *beg* Verizon to let you license their technology cited in the patent.

Read [USAToday] Via [GigaOM]