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Verizon, Klausner settle voice mail patent suit

The sign for the Verizon Wireless store is seen in Lakewood, Colorado September 11, 2007. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless settled a lawsuit over voice mail technology with the patent’s owner, Klausner Technologies Inc, the companies said on Friday.

Klausner said it granted Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group, a patent license related to voice message alerts.

Verizon confirmed the deal but both companies did not disclose the financial terms of the settlement, which was reached on Thursday.

The technology in question involves visual voice mail, which helps consumers access voice messages on their mobile telephones or computers.

Klausner has agreed to similar settlements with other telecommunications and technology firms, such as AT&T Inc and Sprint, as well as Apple Inc.

It also settled with Comcast Corp and Cablevision in recent months, while outstanding cases include those against Comverse Technology Inc, Embarq Corp and Google Inc.

Company founder Judah Klausner said more agreements may follow.

“Several more are negotiating licenses right now,” he told Reuters, but declined to give details.

Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Derek Caney, Leslie Gevirtz

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