Vonage Awaiting Last Rites From Verizon Jury

A verdict is expected by tomorrow as to whether or not Vonage owes Verizon nearly $200 million in patent infringement penance, and almost $5 per customer in royalties. If so, Verizon blasts a very large hole in an already sinking ship.

There are five patents in question, which Verizon staked claim to in the mid-Nineties, for technologies making Internet telephony services possible. Vonage leans on the argument that Verizon's patents are invalid, and even if so, their technology is different. In addition, Vonage has flung allegations that Verizon is acting to destroy competition.

And it certainly may work if the verdict comes back in favor of Verizon. It hasn't been the best year for Vonage. Already staring down a patent infringement IPO price to tumble, quite unexpectedly, from $17 to $5.13 per share by the next day. Six months later, dial 911, which is just another nail in the coffin of a flagging startup. Suffice to say it would be a sucker bet to assume Vonage will be around in 2008.

But what's bad news for Vonage is good news for Verizon, and if they can score a victory here, they may just succeed, as Vonage's attorney accused, in obliterating a competitor.