Apple, Klausner Settle On Visual Voicemail

Apple has reached a settlement in a patent infringement suit brought against it by Klausner Technologies over the iPhone's Visual Voicemail feature.

Back in December, Klausner Technology filed a patent infringement suit against Apple, Skype, Cablevision, and Comcast over a patent related to voice messaging and visual voicemail services—like the one offered in Apple’s famous iPhone.

Now, Klausner Technology says Apple, and AT&T have reached settlements with the company over its 5,572,576 and 5,283,818 parents, and has also reached a settlement with eBay. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to Reuters, Klausner is apparently continuing to pursue its case against Comcast and Cablevision.

Unlike many so-called “patent trolls”—companies whose sole business activity is acquiring patents and demanding companies license them—Judah Klausner developed a number of technologies, holds a number of patents, and is widely credited as the “father of the PDA.” Klausner had previously licensed the voicemail patents to other parties, and won settlements from Vonage and AOL for using the technology; experts considered it likely Klausner would prevail in court if Apple or other companies names in the suit chose to pursue the case.