Appeals Court to Hear Vonage-Verizon Case on April 24

A federal appeals court will hear arguments in the Vonage-Verizon patent case on April 24.

That means Vonage Holdings Corp. will be able to sign new subscribers until at least that day. The VoIP provider late last Friday received a stay of injunction that would have stopped the company from adding new customers.

Analysts for investment bank Stifel Nicolaus said Vonage, in its attempts to win a reprieve, might have to make information publicly available that it has so far been able to keep under wraps.

Meanwhile, District Judge Claude Hilton has scheduled what should be a final hearing concluding issues at the trial level. Stifel Nicolaus analysts said Hilton will decide Thursday whether to impose an additional $189 million bond on top of the $66 million bond he ordered April 6. “We believe that he will likely require the additional bond,” they wrote in a memo to clients.

Verizon Communications Inc. www.verizon.com  

Vonage Holdings Corp. www.vonage.com