Another day, another lawsuit. A Texas-based company called H-W Technology is suing (http://macte.ch/jwtO0) Apple, Research in Motion, Amazon, LG Electronics, Microsoft, Nokia and other companies (around 30 in all) for patent infringement on patent number 7525955 for "Internet protocol (IP) phone with search and advertising capability."


The patent is for a software platform in an Internet Protocol (IP) phone having the ability to be used with different communication infrastructures such as broadband, wireless communication and Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) service. What's more, per the patent, the software platform in the IP phone has the ability to be used with different applications operating on the IP phone. Further, the IP phone has the ability to perform additional functionality than traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) phones, such as searches and advertising, given its ability to converge voice and data within a single terminal.

The lawsuit was filed in the lawsuit-friendly Northern District of Texas (Dallas Division). H-W Technology claims that the patent covers systems and methods that "allow users of [smartphones] via domain specific applications to receive information and offers from merchants and to complete a transaction with one of said merchants without having to generate a voice call."

-- Dennis Sellers