For its size 8x8, the company responsible for the Packet8 brand is a leader in patents. The company has been receiving patents in video and related technologies for years. In the nineties I would tour the companies offices and see walls full of patents. I would always walk away amazed. The only company in the same class (in terms of patent volume to company size – based on my informal analysis) is Melita whose chairman Alek Szlam has been awarded dozens and dozens of patents in telecom. Some going back to the early 1980s. Melita is now part of Aspect Software and Alek is an independent inventor doing very well. I just saw him a month ago.

Getting back to 8x8, the company has recently received a patent in the hosted VoIP space. I haven’t had time to really study the patent carefully but I have a good deal of confidence in the intellectual property experience at 8x8.

It is unclear if this news means that 8x8 will now be able to make money from licensing fees. Perhaps this news might even affect the IP contact center space and yesterday’s big hosted IP PBX acquisition by Oracle – Telephony@Work.

I will certainly keep you posted as the story develops.