• Bloomberg News, Friday, May 4, 2007 11:15 AM

Once again Vonage Holdings Corp. has been denied. This time, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington denied the VoIP provider a request for a new trial in its patent infringement case against telecom giant Verizon Communications. In the wake of a recent Supreme Court ruling, the company asked to have a jury finding that Vonage had infringed on three Verizon patents overthrown, which would have sent the case back to a lower court.

The company based its request on an April 30 Supreme Court ruling that Vonage claimed renders the Verizon patents invalid. The high court on Monday came up with a new test for determining when an invention is too obvious to warrant patent protection, finding the decades-old one obsolete. As a result, it will be more difficult to get patents or win infringement suits.

Vonage shares fell a further 4 percent on the news to $3.12 on the New York Stock Exchange. The company's shares have fallen 55 percent this year, lowering the VoIP provider's market value to $484.8 million.

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