iPhone Visual Voicemail Patent in Question

Klausner Technologies has sued Apple and AT&T Mobility for infringing on a patent outlining Visual Voicemail. The patent describes a "Telephone Answering Device Linking Displayed Data with Recorded Audio Message."

The lawsuit was launched in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Wednesday. This is the second time Klausner has sued Apple for Visual Voicemail. The patent was first issued to Klausner in 1994 and reinstated on March 18, 2008 -- just one day before the latest lawsuit was launched.

Visual Voicemail, a feature of the iPhone, enables users to selectively identify and listen to messages in their voicemail by using the iPhone's interface. The phone identifies callers and when they left their message -- users can then listen to each message individually, rather than having to use key commands to fast-forward, rewind, stop and start messages as they do with many other phones.

Klausner said it has suffered because of Apple and AT&T's "wanton disregard of the Plaintiff's rights."

The lawsuit calls for a preliminary injunction to stop Apple from infringing on the patent. Klausner is also asking for monetary damages and court costs.