Google Voice may Face Longer Delays due to Alleged Patent Infringement

March 30, 2010 - PRLog -- Internet search giant Google acquired a relatively unknown company, GrandCentral Communications on July 3, 2007. July 11th –eight days later– Indiana based company One Number Corporation contacted both Google and the acquired company ,GrandCentral , to inform them of One Number’s then pending patents 7,440,565 and 7,680,256. The call was never returned.

In March 2009 Google announced the release of Google Voice, a Google service that allows a user to use one phone number for their cell, home and office phone.

All these events have now lead to a complaint filed March 16, 2010 from One Number against Google.

One Number’s patents have the same priority date of August 15, 2005 and claim innovative telecommunications systems that allow users to obtain one phone number that isn’t tied to a specific location but rather is associated to the individual who owns the phone number. When the user receives a phone call all the telecommunication devices under that number notify the user of an incoming call.

The complaint goes on to state that Google Voice is “almost entirely based on the infringing technology Google acquired from GrandCentral”.

According to Google’s Official Blog, after Google took over GrandCentral the system was rebuilt from the ground up. This has caused delays in getting the new system up and running. Many people who signed up with the service through GrandCentral haven’t even used it due to Google’s acquisition of the company, according to TechCrunch.com. Google Voice is currently only available through invitation.

Google Voice has added features that weren’t available with the old GrandCentral, such as transcribing voicemails and texting them to the user, friend settings, as well as conference and international calls.

An attorney for One Number declined to comment on the complaint.

A representative Google declined to comment except to say that they have not yet been served with the complaint.

One Number is asking to be awarded triple damages and a permanent injunction barring Google from using any “virtual phone system” that infringes One Number’s patents.

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