MD Legal Briefs: July 11, 2006

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Jul 11, 2006 by Daily Record Staff

Lorillard butts out

The attorneys general of 33 states, including Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., announced yesterday that Lorillard Tobacco Co., of Greensboro, N.C., has agreed to new measures to prevent the illegal sale of its cigarettes over the Internet and through the mail. Lorillard agreed to (a) terminate cigarette shipments to any of Lorillard's direct customers that the attorneys general have found to be engaging in illegal Internet and mail order sales; (b)reduce the amount of product available to direct customers found by the attorneys general to be engaged in illegal resale of Lorillard's cigarettes to the Internet vendors; and (c) suspend participation in the company's incentive programs by any retailer found by the attorneys general to be engaging in such illegal sales. A similar agreement was reached in January with Philip Morris USA.

Klausner sues Vonage

Klausner Technologies Inc. said yesterday it is suing Internet phone service provider Vonage Holdings Inc., of Holmdel, N.J., for patent infringement, with damages and royalties estimated at $180 million. The suit, filed in federal court in the eastern district of Texas by the California law firm of Dovel & Luner, asserts that the Vonage VOIP voicemail platform infringes on New York-based Klausner Technologies' patent. Klausner said it granted a license under the same patent to Time Warner's AOL for AOL Voicemail and VOIP voicemail services. Judah Klausner, the firm's founder and the original inventor of the PDA and the electronic organizer, said the company approached Vonage in January and offered them the opportunity to enter into a licensing agreement. - There was no response, other than a request from Vonage in February for more time to study the situation, Klausner added.

Tracking sex offenders

Sex offenders in Wicomico County will be more closely tracked by a new unit that will register and track all categories of sex offenders, collecting DNA, fingerprints and photographs of all convicts. Wicomico County Sheriff's Office Detective Sgt. Stephen Matthews, who is leading the unit, said offenders will register with the police every six months. We're going to start checking up on them more, Matthews said. We will have tighter checks and balances in place so people won't get lost in the system after a year.