Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, Sept. 22 (Xinhua)-- Meta has been ordered to pay more than $174 million in damages to Walkie Talkie messaging app creator Voxer after a jury in a federal court in Texas ruled that the social media giant violated two live broadcast patents of Facebook Live and Instagram Live.

The patents were developed by Tom Katis, co-founder of Voxer, a U.S. army veteran who tried to address flaws in battlefield communications after his combat unit was ambushed in Kunar province in 2003. Katis and the team began developing communications solutions in 2006, resulting in new technologies capable of transmitting real-time voice and video communications. Voxer was founded in 2007 and the Walkie Talkie application was launched in 2011.

Meta, then known as Facebook, worked with Voxer shortly after the app was released, and by February 2012, Voxer had disclosed its patent portfolio and know-how to Meta, according to court filings. According to Voxer's complaint, when the two companies failed to reach a partnership agreement, Meta identified Voxer as a competitor, even though it did not have its own real-time video or voice products at the time. Meta subsequently revoked Voxer's access to key components of the Facebook platform. Facebook Live was launched in 2015 and Instagram Live in 2016.

Katis said he raised patent infringement issues during a "meeting" with Facebook Live's senior product manager in 2016, but Meta refused to reach any agreement on its continued use of Voxer's technology, according to court documents.

The jury's unanimous verdict in the case awarded Voxer a total amount of $174530785, which will be paid through current royalties. Meta said it would appeal the decision. "We believe the evidence in the trial shows that Meta did not infringe Voxer's patent," a company spokesman said in response. "We intend to seek further relief, including an appeal."

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