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Meta has been ordered to pay Voxer – the creators of the Walkie Talkie messaging app – more than $174 million in damages after a jury in Texas federal court concluded that the social media giant had infringes two live streaming patents with Facebook Live and Instagram Live.
The patents in question were developed by Voxer co-founder Tom Katis, a US military veteran looking to correct the shortcomings he experienced in post-unit combat battlefield communications. His team was ambushed in Kunar province in 2003.
Katis and his team began developing communication solutions in 2006, resulting in new technology that allows live video and voice communications to be transmitted. Voxer was then founded in 2007 and the Walkie Talkie app launched in 2011.
Court documents state that Meta (then known as Facebook) approached Voxer shortly after the app’s launch for the purpose of cooperation, and in February 2012, Voxer disclosed its patent portfolio and Its proprietary technology for Meta. When the two companies failed to reach an agreement to work together, Meta identified Voxer as a competitor, even though the company had no live video or voice products to sell “timely”. grand.
Katis said he raised the patent infringement issue during an “accidental meeting” with Facebook Live’s senior product manager in 2016, Meta refused to take any action. any agreement regarding the continued use of Voxer technology.
Meta later revoked Voxer’s access to key components of the Facebook platform, behavior that The Verge described as bullying at the time. Facebook Live was launched in 2015, followed by Instagram Live in 2016.
The unanimous decision of the jury in the case awards Voxer a total of $174,530,785, which will be paid through running royalties. Meta says he will appeal the decision. “We believe the evidence at trial demonstrated that Meta did not infringe on Voxer’s patents,” a company spokesman said ahead of the AFP investigation. “We intend to seek further relief, including filing an appeal.”