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Canadian telecommunications equipment maker Nortel Networks has filed a lawsuit against VoIP provider Vonage, claiming that the company violated nine patents related to Internet phone services and related features such as 911 and 411 calling and click to call.

The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware, comes in the wake of a suit filed against Nortel by Vonage earlier this year that alleged Nortel violated three of Vonage's patents.

Two of the patents involved in that suit, numbers 4,782,485 and 5,018,136, concern multiplexed digital-packet telephone systems. The third patent, number 5,444,707, concerns packet-switching communications systems. Vonage acquired these three patents from Digital Packet Licensing in 2006.

"From our perspective defending our intellectual properly rights is certainly a top priority for Nortel," said Nortel spokesman Mohammed Nakhooda. "That is why we are seeking damages and a permanent injunction against Vonage around the use of our technology."

Nortel is seeking damages and an injunction on the use of the technologies by Vonage.

Charles Sahner, Vonage spokesman, noted that litigation is ongoing and that both parties have filed, and will continue to file, papers in support of their individual cases. While it is difficult to speculate on a settlement at this point, Sahner did share that the company always prefers to settle disputes amicably whenever possible.

For more than a year, Vonage has been caught up in one patent lawsuit after another. AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon Communications have all sued the company for allegedly violating their patents.

In October, Vonage settled its suit with Sprint Nextel for USD 80 million. Later that month, it settled with Verizon in a deal that could cost the company a maximum of USD 120 million. And early in November, Vonage was in settlement talks with AT&T in deal that could cost it USD 39 million over five years.

"This particular suit is a countersuit so the original lawsuit that alleged patent infringement was filed by Vonage. This is a defensive maneuver on the part of Nortel," said Sahner.

Vonage reported net losses of USD 160.5 million in the third quarter of this year, more than twice the USD 65.8 million loss it reported for the third quarter of 2006. Overall, the company has lost USD 266.6 million so far this year, and it has incurred net losses of more than USD 500 million in the past three years.

At the end of the day, Vonage has a very tough road ahead. Not only has its reputation been damaged, but also the company will be spending a lot of money over the next several years paying off its legal bills.