j2 Global Files Patent Infringement Suits Against Protus IP Solutions

LOS ANGELES - j2 Global Communications Inc., the provider of outsourced, value-added messaging and communications services, announced in a Monday press release that it has filed three separate patent infringement lawsuits against Protus IP Solutions Inc., Captaris Inc. and EasyLink Services International Corporation.

The three suits, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, each allege that Protus, Captaris and EasyLink violate claims of US Patent Numbers 6,597,688 and 7,020,132, both entitled "Scalable Architecture for Transmission of Messages over a Network."

j2 Global is seeking monetary damages for past infringement, injunctive relief prohibiting Protus, Captaris and EasyLink from continuing to infringe the patents, among other remedies.

In addition to these cases, j2 Global has pending patent infringement cases against Protus relating to various other patents before California and Canadian courts, and j2 Global has a pending patent infringement case against Captaris relating to a separate patent in a case pending in Georgia.

"j2 Global has heavily invested in Internet fax and enhanced messaging intellectual property over the past decade, enabling us to deliver powerful value-added solutions to our customers," Vice President and General Counsel of j2 Global Jeff Adelman said.

"These lawsuits reflect our ongoing commitment to shareholders and customers alike to protect our IP by enforcing it against companies using it without our permission," he added.

j2 Global owns 57 issued US and foreign patents, and has 49 pending patent applications. These patents and patent applications relate to various innovations in the fields of unified communications, multimedia messaging, Internet fax and voice messaging and document management.

Founded in 1995, j2 Global Communications Inc. provides outsourced, value-added messaging and communications services to individuals and businesses around the world.