Klausner inks visual voicemail settlements with Yahoo, others

By Geoff Duncan Published April 29, 2011

Klausner Technologies — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Klausner Technologies has settled another round of visual voicemail patent disputes, announcing that it has reached settlements with Yahoo, Panasonic, Avaya, and Qwest Communications (now owned by CenturyLink) over the companies’ use of visual voicemail technologies. Klausner’s settlement with Yahoo makes Yahoo the 33rd company to license Klausner’s visual voicemail patents; others include Apple, Sprint, Google, T-Mobile, Comcast, Skype, and Verizon.

“Our patented technology lets consumers view, prioritize, and select voice messages from their mobile phones or via the Internet,” said Judah Klausner, CEO of Klausner Technologies.

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Although Klausner Technologies doesn’t develop any products, Judah Klausner is widely considered the “father of the PDA,” and the visual voicemail patents all stem from design and engineering work he did in the 1970s. And Klausner’s patents seem to be holding up: although Klausner has brought a number of infringement suits against big names in the technology industry, the patents have never been seriously challenged. All told, Klausner holds 25 worldwide patents covering the basics of visual voicemail features on computers and mobile devices.

The agreements with Yahoo, Panasonic, Avaya, and Qwest settle all litigation between the companies and Klausner, although in no instance have financial or licensing terms of the settlements been revealed. Klausner still has outstanding infringement suits against the likes of RIM and Cisco.

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