The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Texas said Verizon Wireless' visual voice mail and LG's Voyager phone infringe on Klausner's patent that covers the ability of a user to view and retrieve voice mail via a menu.

"We anticipated Klausner's action," Robin Nicol, a Verizon Wireless spokesperson, told us in an interview. "We filed a declaratory judgment action in New York federal court on Aug. 13. We are seeking a declaration that Klausner's visual voice mail patent is invalid and that Verizon's system does not infringe the patent in any event."

Settlements Expected

Citrix Systems Inc., Cox Communications, Comverse Technologies, Embarq Communications, RingCentral, Phone Fusion and Grand Central, purchased in June 2007 by Google, are also named in the lawsuit.

The company is known for its lawsuits against other tech giants for infringement, including AT&T , Apple, Skype, Comcast, Simulscribe and Cablevision. Skype's Voicemail, Cablevision's Optimum Voicemail, and Comcast's Digital Voice all violate Klausner's IP rights, it says.

Klausner sought $360 million in damages from Apple, claiming the inbox display featuring the ability for a user to retrieve voice mail on the iPhone infringed on Klausner's patent. The inventor also sought $300 million from each of the other companies listed in the suit.

Time Warner AOL, however, was the first to be sued by Klausner, for $200 million. Since the 2006 lawsuit, AOL has settled and is currently a licensee of Klausner's patent.

To date, all of the companies have settled except Cablevision, according to a company spokesperson. Sprint was the only company to proactively license technology from the company and avoid litigation, said the spokesperson.

Judah Klausner, the inventor of the PDA, told Crains New York that inventors need to be compensated for things they invented that are used by others. Already, the company has licensed patents to 11 other companies, and Klausner said the other defendants will probably settle.

A company spokesperson said Klausner could not disclose any additional information. "There is not much more that he can say," said the spokesperson.

The Inventor

According to a biography filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Judah Klausner received his bachelor's of arts in philosophy and musicology from New York University. It says he is the inventor and owner of the original patent on the handheld electronic organizer, which he licensed to numerous companies to build and market products.

Companies that licensed with Klausner include Casio Computer, Sharp Electronics, Toshiba Electronics, Sony and Apple Computer.