Inventor sues Google, Verizon and others

Inventor Judah Klausner filed a new voicemail patent lawsuit against Google, Verizon Communications, and others, a Reuters report said.

The report added that the inventor's company, Klausner Technologies, also named as defendants LG Electronics, Comverse Technology, and Citrix Systems in a patent infringement complaint filed in US District Court in Tyler, Texas.

The new case involves claims by Klausner tied to patents in various countries he began receiving in 1992 for 'visual voicemail' -- applying a graphical way of interacting with voicemail messages that allow it to be used like email, the report said.

In June, Apple, which recently popularized 'visual voicemail' through its hit iPhone device, together with AT&T and eBay, the owner of web-based calling service Skype, settled a patent suit filed last December by Klausner.

Privately held Klausner has not disclosed financial details of the settlements or related patent licensing deals.

Klausner previously sued and won settlements from Time Warner's AOL and Vonage Holdings.

The Reuters report said Comcast, which was also sued in the December case, recently agreed to a licensing deal as part of its own settlement, Klausner said in a telephone interview.

Klausner remains in talks with Cablevision Systems, another defendant.