May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Vonage Holdings Corp. was denied a bid for a new trial of a patent-infringement case the Internet telephone company lost to Verizon Communications Inc. in March.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington denied Vonage's request late yesterday. The appeals court has set a June 25 hearing to consider Vonage's appeal of the jury verdict.

Vonage asked the Federal Circuit May 1 to throw out the jury finding that it infringed three patents covering Internet phone- calling technology and send the case back to the lower court. It based the request on an April 30 Supreme Court ruling that Vonage said bolstered its argument that Verizon's patents are invalid.

``Counsel may include the arguments in their briefs on the merits,'' for the June 25 hearing, the court said in an order.

Verizon, the second-biggest U.S. telephone company, yesterday asked the court to reject Vonage's request saying it was a waste of time. Verizon, based in New York, said an appeal of the March jury verdict in the case is already scheduled to be heard next month, so the dispute shouldn't be returned to the trial court.

``We're just going to continue with our appeal,'' said Brooke Schulz, a spokeswoman for Holmdel, New Jersey-based Vonage. ``This has no impact on our appeal.'' She had no further comment.

Vonage's opening brief is due May 9, and Verizon has until May 30 to reply.

New Test

In its ruling last month, the Supreme Court devised a new test for determining when an invention is too obvious to warrant patent protection. The landmark ruling overturned a decades-old test used by the Federal Circuit, which specializes in patent cases, making it harder to get patents or win infringement suits.

Shares of Vonage fell 13 cents, or 4 percent, to $3.12 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have tumbled 55 percent this year, leaving the company with a market value of $484.8 million. Verizon rose $1.47 to $41.07.

AT&T Inc. is the biggest U.S. phone company.

The appeal is Verizon Services Corp. v. Vonage Holdings, 07- 01240, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The lower- court case is Verizon Services Corp. v. Vonage Holdings, 06-cv- 682, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria). The Supreme Court case is KSR v. Teleflex, 04-1350.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff St.Onge in Washington at jstonge@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 3, 2007 16:29 EDT