BackSprint wins $139.8 million in Time Warner cable patent trial
Sprint wins a $139.8 million damage award after a jury in Kansas finds that Time Warner Cable infringed patents for digital voice telephone services
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Washington: Sprint Corp. won a $139.8 million damage award after a jury in Kansas found that Time Warner Cable infringed patents for digital voice telephone services.
Sprint filed the suit against Time Warner Cable and other cable television companies in 2011, claiming they used, without permission, Sprint inventions for transmitting phone calls over digital lines.
Time Warner Cable, now owned by Charter Communications Inc., willfully infringed the patents, the jury said on Friday. That means the judge could increase the award by as much as three times the amount set by the jury.
The jury found that Time Warner Cable infringed five patents for Voice-over-Internet Protocol and “awarded our full damages demand," said Sprint spokeswoman Lisa Dimino, who said the Overland Park, Kansas-based company was pleased with the verdict.
“We are disappointed with the outcome and are considering our options," said Justin Venech, a spokesman with Stamford, Connecticut-based Charter.
A trial on similar claims by Sprint against Comcast Cable Communications is scheduled to begin next week before the same judge in Kansas City, Kansas, according to the court’s docket.
The case is Sprint Communications Co. v. Time Warner Cable Inc., 11-2686, US District Court for the District of Kansas (Kansas City). Bloomberg
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