Klausner Technologies, Inc.—a patent holding company founded by the “inventor of the PDA” Judah Klausner—today filed lawsuits against Apple, AT&T, Comcast, Cablevision, and eBay’s Skype service for infringing on patents related to voice messaging and visual voicemail services. Klausner’s suits against AT&T and Apple seeks $360 million in damages and future royalties; the suit against Comcast, Cablevision, and eBay totals $300 million.
The patents in question are 5,572,576 (cited in all the suits) and 5,283,818 (cited against Apple and AT&T); they both cover systems offering a visual display for selecting and managing recorded audio messages. The former patent was granted in 1996, the latter in 1994. Klausner has successfully licensed the patents to other parties, and has previously sued Vonage and AOL for infringement of the 576 patent.
