• On May 10, 2011, Klausner Technologies filed a patent-infringement suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against various parties, including carriers Paetec, Primus, Windstream, and XO, and manufacturers Alcatel-Lucent, NEC, Samsung, Siemens, and Toshiba. The suit seeks damages for the alleged infringement of two Klausner patents – issued in 1994 and 1996 – relating to visual voicemail services. Klausner seeks injunctive relief and an unspecified measure of compensatory damages. Klausner Technologies, Inc. v. Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc., No. 6:11-cv-231 (E.D. Tex., filed May 10, 2011).
  • On May 5, 2011, the Texas Court of Appeals in Austin ruled that TracFone Wireless and Virgin Mobile are – and have been – obligated to collect 911 fees from their customers and remit them to the Texas Commission on State Emergency Communications. The decision reverses a Texas trial court ruling that the wireless carriers do not owe 911 fees, regardless of whether their customers paid on a pre-paid or post-paid basis. The court of appeals rejected the wireless carriers’ argument that the “statutory provisions addressing the method of assessing and collecting the fee demonstrate a clear intent to limit the fee to wireless telecommunications connections paid for in any particular manner.” The court of appeals also found that any challenges that the prepaid model creates for the assessment or calculation of fees do not excuse the carriers from collecting and paying the 911 fees. Commission on State Emergency Communications v. TracFone Wireless, Inc., No. 03-10-00111-CV.