Google Sued by Frontier Communications in Patent Dispute Over Google Voice

Google Inc., operator of the world’s largest Internet search engine, was sued by Frontier Communications Corp. and accused of infringing a new patent for enhanced telephone services.

Google is violating patent rights with products such as the Google Voice system, Frontier, based in Stamford, Connecticut, contended today in a complaint in federal court in Delaware.

“Google’s deliberate infringement of the patent has greatly and irreparably damaged Frontier,” the plaintiff’s lawyers said in court papers seeking unspecified damages and an injunction to stop the use of the technology.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, agreed last month to buy Global IP Solutions Holding AB, a maker of voice and videoconferencing software, for about $68 million to help expand Internet video and audio capabilities.

“We believe these claims are entirely without merit, and we’ll defend against them vigorously,” Andrew Pederson, a spokesman for Google, said by e-mail.

Google, with revenue of $23.7 billion last year, fell $2.31 to $486.25 today in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The stock has declined 22 percent this year.

Frontier, with $2.12 billion in 2009 sales, fell 17 cents to $7.69 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. It has dropped 1.5 percent this year.

The case is Frontier Communications Corp. v. Google Inc., 10-cv-545, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).

To see the patent, click: 7,742,468.

To contact the reporters on this story: Phil Milford in Wilmington, Delaware, at pmilford@bloomberg.net; Dawn McCarty in Wilmington, Delaware, at dmccarty@bloomberg.net.

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